Clayton Kershaw gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a quality start to earn his 201st career win as they took the series from the Chicago Cubs, but the outing was not at the level of his dominant performance against the New York Mets last week.
Like in that start, an error resulted in the leadoff man being in scoring position in the first inning. Whereas Kershaw struck out three batters to pick up Jason Heyward, he couldn’t get Max Muncy off the hook at Wrigley Field. Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki provided the Cubs with a 2-0 lead on respective RBI base hits.
Both runs were unearned, and Kershaw retired 11 of the next 12 batters faced through the fourth inning. Yan Gomes led off the bottom of the fifth with a homer, which was the only earned run Kershaw allowed over six innings.
He nevertheless was not particularly pleased with the start and he credited Dodgers teammates for getting to Marcus Stroman in their 7-3 win, via SportsNet LA:
“Not a great first inning, so just tried to bear down the best I can. Facing a good pitcher who is having a good start to the year, so just tried to limit the damage as best I can. Wasn’t pretty. A lot of lineouts, a lot of balls at the track caught. But guys played a great game, got some big knocks, started scoring some runs off a good pitcher and we got a win out of it, so that was great.”
When asked if adjustments after the first inning helped get through the start, Kershaw reiterated the feeling of not having his best stuff:
“I tried. It wasn’t great all the way around. Didn’t have great feel or great command in general. You’re going to have days like that. You try to make the best of it, and guys picked me up.”
Even with his personal feeling of fighting an uphill battle, Kershaw lowered his season ERA to 2.32 and improved to 4-1 in five starts. He’s logged at least six innings in every outing.
Clayton Kershaw made MLB history in 200th win
By reaching 200 wins in 288 career decisions, Kershaw reached the milestone with a .694 winning percentage. That is the highest in MLB history among pitchers with at least 200 victories. The 35-year-old also lowered his career ERA to 2.48, which is the best mark among pitchers with 200 wins since 1920.
Kershaw additionally became the only pitcher in the Live Ball era with at least 200 wins and an ERA below 2.50.
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