Thursday afternoon’s start at Turner Field was hardly the masterpiece that’s come to be expected of Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. However, what the southpaw may have lacked in command, he more than made up for in competitive spirit to push through the outing.
The Dodgers spotted Kershaw a 1-0 lead in the first inning, though it was erased two batters into the bottom of the first. Erick Aybar’s leadoff double was followed by Daniel Catro’s RBI double. The inning may have been worse for Kershaw and the Dodgers had Castro not been thrown out attempting to stretch it to a triple.
Atlanta challenged the out call, with replay appearing to show Castro beating Charlie Culberson’s tag, but there was not enough video evidence to overturn the ruling.
The Braves next threatened the following inning when they loaded the bases with none out behind a trio of singles. Kershaw buckled down to get a strikeout, and was boosted by a tremendous Chase Utley diving stop to start an inning-ending double play.
Kershaw went on to hold the Braves to only five more hits over his next six innings of work, and he set a season high with 10 strikeouts in the process. In addition, Kershaw has now tossed at least seven innings in his first four outings to start a season for the first time in his career.
