The Los Angeles Dodgers improved their winning streak to four games as they began their roadtrip against the Milwaukee Brewers with a 5-2 victory.
Clayton Kershaw made the start looking to build off his previous solid outing at Dodger Stadium, and he was able to do just that. The southpaw pitched 5.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out six and walking two.
It was by far Kershaw’s best start of the season, and a pleasant sight to see.
Although he had a strong outing, Kershaw was less thrilled with his game, and happier to see the Dodgers win another game, he said via SportsNet LA:
“Yeah, it was a good game for us tonight all the way around. Personally, it was okay. I think I had decent command all the way through. A couple of big spots that I was able to get out of there. But overall, it was a good game for the whole team, really.”
Kershaw needed just 83 pitches to get through his outing, and it was the deepest he’s pitched into a game through his four starts this year. He was able to do that by being aggressive in the zone and trying to get hitters out quickly, rather than searching for strikeouts:
“I mean, that’s always the goal. I think just try to pound the strike zone and kind of keep them on the defensive. That’s always been what I try to do. And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But at the end of the day, you just got to keep attacking. You’ll give up some early hits, but you get some quick outs too, and that’s how you get deeper in the game for sure.”
After his blowup start in San Diego when he allowed seven runs in just 3.2 innings, Kershaw has rebounded with 10.1 innings in last last two starts with just two total runs allowed. While he was able to bounce back, the future Hall of Famer didn’t change anything he was doing:
“Nothing different,” Kershaw said. “Sometimes you have bad starts. You just make better ones.”
Kershaw now owns a 3.50 ERA this season across 18 innings, striking out 17 hitters with a 1.39 WHIP.
Clayton Kershaw chasing 3,000 strikeouts
After his most recent start, Kershaw now has 2,961 strikeouts in his career, placing him just 39 away from his next milestone of 3,000. He is only averaging 4.25 strikeouts per game, but he has had five and six in his last two games.
If he averages six per start, he would need seven games to reach 3,000, and he would need eight games if he averages five strikeouts per start.
If he pitches every fifth day, Kershaw would finish the season with eight more starts. If he pitches every sixth day, that number would be cut by one.
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