The Los Angeles Dodgers were in good position to get a series win against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday afternoon as Clayton Kershaw was on the bump for his fourth start this season.
Kershaw was coming off seven innings of work in a no-decision against the San Francisco Giants. Meanwhile, the Dodgers defeated the Braves in 10 innings on Wednesday night, calling for a quick turnaround at Turner Field with the 9:10 a.m. PT start.
Spotted a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Kershaw allowed Atlanta to tie the score two batters into the bottom of the first as Erick Aybar and Daniel Castro connected for back-to-back doubles.
The score remained tied until the 10th inning when Yasmani Grandal followed a Kiké Hernandez base hit with a go-ahead double. However, prior to getting to that point, Kershaw unleashed a pitch yet to be seen from the dominant left-hander.
With one out and Tyler Flowers batting in the fourth inning, Kershaw floated a 46 mph pitch to the plate:
Flowers wound up striking out in the at-bat. Kershaw explained in a postgame interview with Alanna Rizzo on Time Warner Cable SportsNet LA that his initial goal was to quick-pitch flowers:
“There was a lot going on in the old skull with that one. Tyler was taking a little time, so I was going to quick-pitch him. I got what I wanted. He wasn’t ready and Angel (Hernandez, home plate umpire) didn’t call time. I was going to throw it, but then he got ready really quickly. And then A.J. (Ellis) called a different pitch. I was just going to throw a fastball, but didn’t want to cross A.J. up if [Flowers] took it. And then I didn’t want to throw a fastball down the middle. So, I was just like, ‘All right, he won,’ and just lobbed it up there.”
Kershaw labored through eight innings, allowing a season-high 10 hits and setting a season-high with 10 strikeouts, all the while holding the Braves to the one run scored in the first inning. What’s more, Kershaw has now tossed at least seven innings through his first four outings to start a season for the first time in his career.
