Despite the unusually short season, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw finds himself in familiar territory as he gets ready to take the mound in a postseason game next week.
He got the start in Friday night’s Freeway Series opener against the L.A. Angels in what was his final regular-season tuneup. Kershaw will be starting either Game 1 or 2 of the Wild Card Series, which begins Wednesday.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has not yet revealed which one it will be.
Kershaw has been brilliant all season, but Friday night was arguably his worst start as he allowed eight hits and four runs (one earned) with three strikeouts in a mere four innings of work against the Angels.
“It was a bad night,” Kershaw said after the Dodgers’ win. “Nothing was great, but thankful it’s now and not later. I’m probably just not going to think about this one too much and try to get ready for the next one.”
Kershaw and Roberts decided before the game that he would have a regular start as opposed to a shortened one to prep for October, but the lefty still only made it four innings.
“It was supposed to be a normal start,” Kershaw reaffirmed. “This was due to lack of skill.”
Despite the poor start, Friday night was essentially meaningless for the Dodgers as far as the standings go. Yet, they still slugged five home runs and came away with a 9-5 victory to eliminate the Angels from postseason contention.
Roberts not concerned about Kershaw
While Kershaw struggling a bit wasn’t ideal, even if he only gave up one earned run, Roberts is not concerned about him going into the postseason.
“We can’t expect him to be perfect every time out. We talked a little bit about the breaking ball not really finishing and the fastball just didn’t have the life that we’ve seen all year. It happens,” Roberts said.
“And we’ve just got to turn the page.”
Kershaw finished the season 6-2 with a 2.16 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in 10 starts, striking out 62 and walking eight in 58.1 innings. It was his best regular season since 2017, and he will head into October with the lightest workload of his career.
If Kershaw is to start Game 1 on Wednesday, it would come on a regular four days of rest. Walker Buehler, the other candidate, pitched Thursday. If he takes the ball in the Dodgers’ first playoff game, it would give both pitchers an extra day of rest.
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