Yasmani Grandal had a three-hit performance and two RBI that were key for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, but Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner dominated headlines on the Fourth of July.
It was reported Tuesday morning that Turner was leading the Final Vote to earn the last spot on the National League roster for the 2017 All-Star Game. The Dodgers and his fiancée, Kourtney, have put together an aggressive campaign in support of Turner.
He quickly added to an already-impressive resume by lining an RBI single to left field off the top of the wall in the bottom of the first inning.
Whereas Turner narrowly missed hitting a home run in that at-bat, he made up for it in the third by driving a solo homer to straightaway center field.
Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw held the Diamondbacks without a hit heading into the seventh inning. To that point their lone baserunners came via two walks by Chris Iannetta.
Strange as it may seem, the outing came across as one of Kershaw’s more subdued performances. He labored some in the first inning, throwing 19 pitches. Kershaw worked around a walk in the fifth inning by striking out the side.
He struck out two of three batters faced in the sixth, and finished with 11 strikeouts — one shy of matching his season high. Kershaw’s bid for history came to an end on Chris Owings’ jam shot to the right side of the infield.
Cody Bellinger strayed too wide of first base, which left Kershaw to cover the bag, and the throw from Logan Forsythe was a hair late. Iannetta later dropped a single into left field, which eased some of the sting.
Despite losing the no-hitter, Kershaw improved to 13-2 this season and lowered his ERA to 2.19. The 13 wins before the All-Star break are a career-best for Kershaw, and the double-digit strikeout game was the 57th of his career.
Kershaw is the first pitcher in the Majors this season to 13 wins, which he’s reached by also throwing an MLB-high 123.1 innings.
