Clayton Kershaw took the mound at Oracle Park on Wednesday night looking to help the Los Angeles Dodgers avoid a second consecutive series loss and disappointing finish to their road trip.
Although Kershaw has enjoyed plenty of success in the San Francisco Giants’ home ballpark, he and the Dodgers found themselves trailing 3-0 after two innings. Only two of the runs were earned, as a mixture of bad luck and poor defense did Kershaw no favors.
By the time Kershaw left the game, he had pitched six innings and not given up any more runs. He settled in, made pitches and eventually the offense picked him up to help Kershaw earn his 25th career win against the Giants.
When initially asked about his early struggles in the game, Kershaw chose to instead focus on the Dodgers’ collective effort in the comeback win and in particular Freddie Freeman’s 15-pitch walk with the bases loaded, via SportsNet LA:
“I’m not going to get into it, but I think it was a great game for our team. Just the way everybody bounced back, the offense. I think Freddie’s at-bat was the catalyst for everything. The way guys got fired up for that, the way Freddie grinded through that at-bat to walk and get us the lead, from there the floodgates opened. It’s amazing how one at-bat can change the outlook of a game. That definitely did it tonight.”
Kershaw then elaborated on his outing and bemoaned having a passive approach:
“I told Mark (Prior), I was being a little soft today. I don’t know what was going on. I was thinking and I wasn’t competing well, so I kind of just flipped the switch and got mad at myself there at the end. I just needed to start pitching better. Just stop thinking, not worrying about how to pitch, and just go pitch. I think sometimes you’ve got to kick yourself a little bit to get going. Tonight, I needed that. Thankful the last couple innings were better.”
Kershaw’s adjustment allowed him to provide the Dodgers with some needed length and throw 100 pitches in a start for the first time since July 9, 2022. The Giants started the game 5-for-11 in the first two innings but afterward went 0-for-11.
After Freeman’s walk gave the Dodgers a 4-3 lead, Will Smith added a sacrifice fly and Max Muncy hit his second home run of the game to provide Kershaw with a cushion for his final inning of work.
Clayton Kershaw career against Giants
Kershaw improved to a 25-15 record to go along with a 2.01 ERA in 57 career games (55 starts) against the San Francisco. The win was also Kershaw’s 199th of his career.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
