Coming off a sweep in their split-squad games, the Los Angeles Dodgers traveled to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick to face the Colorado Rockies on Sunday afternoon. The meeting was the first of two this spring between the Dodgers and Rockies.
Clayton Kershaw took the mound for his third Cactus League start of the year and looking to continue stretching himself out in preparation for Opening Day.
In his previous outing, Kershaw went three innings against the Chicago Cubs, allowing five hits and one run, while striking out five. The lone run came in the third as the Dodgers ace allowed three consecutive base hits.
Kershaw threw two scoreless innings in his debut this year against the Chicago White Sox. Kershaw is a lifetime 17-5 with a 3.20 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and a no-hitter in 31 starts against the Rockies.
As someone who places importance on his Spring Training results, Kershaw retired seven consecutive batters from the first through third innings. He was spotted an early 3-0 lead in the second, which grew to 6-0 by the third.
Having breezed through four innings of work, Kershaw elected to remain in the game for a fifth and final inning, rather than throw additional pitches in the bullpen. The three-time Cy Young Award winner worked around a two-out error in the fifth to complete his scoreless work on 61 pitches:
