The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped their series finale against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday afternoon by a score of 11-5.
The game was actually much closer than the score would indicate, as Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw turned in a very strong outing and left with a 3-1 lead. Kershaw threw 68 pitches in five innings, giving up just four hits and one run while striking out six without allowing a walk.
The plan before the game was for Kershaw to go five innings and throw around 75 pitches as he continues to work his pitch count back up since returning from a back injury. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made it clear he did not want to extend Kershaw beyond that.
This may be the final time Kershaw has a limit as far as innings and pitches though, as he came out of the outing feeling good about how he threw the ball and felt physically, via J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
Kershaw said his pitch and innings-limit restrictions “should pretty much be off” now.
“There’s definitely some things to be encouraged with today,” he said.
While the Dodgers starting rotation has been depleted by injuries for much of the season so far, things are starting to fall into place with everyone getting healthy over the last few weeks.
Even though he didn’t have a good showing, Walker Buehler returned from the disabled list on Thursday and pitched in relief of Kershaw and came out of the game also feeling healthy.
That gives the Dodgers six capable starters, so they could utilize a six-man rotation in the recent future to help keep everyone fresh and healthy.
It will be interesting to see if Kershaw continues to pitch every fifth day though as he has not liked receiving extra days of rest in the past.
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