While it was not his preferred course of action, Clayton Kershaw took the mound Saturday night for a rehab start and final hurdle to coming off the disabled list. The start with Oklahoma City was Kershaw’s first of his career at the Triple-A level.
He got through a 1-2-3 first inning, but gave up a leadoff home run to Jorge Soler in the second. Kershaw then retired the next three batters faced, notching two strikeouts in the process.
Paul Orlando reached on an infield single with one out in the fourth to snap a string of seven consecutive batters retired. He was immediately picked off first base, however, and was the final baserunner Kershaw allowed.
He finished the night at 64 pitches, and with eight strikeouts over five innings and just the one run allowed on two hits. Kershaw said postgame he was content with the outing and looked forward to rejoining the Dodgers.
That’s expected to come in Friday’s series with the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. That means the left-handed ace will have missed just under six weeks while recovering from a lower back strain.
Last season, Kershaw spent 10 weeks on the disabled list due to a mild herniated disc.
