Clayton Kershaw makes his final home start of the 2016 regular season on Saturday night with yet another opportunity to pitch the Los Angeles Dodgers to a National League West title.
Kershaw threw a complete-game shutout with 13 strikeouts against the San Francisco Giants last season to clinch the division. Los Angeles defeated their longtime rival at AT&T Park, 8-0.
In 2014, Kershaw held the Giants to one run over eight innings and had 11 strikeouts to help lift the Dodgers to an NL West title in a 9-1 victory.
Kershaw this season is 11-3 with a 1.73 ERA, 1.67 FIP and 0.73 WHIP. He owns an astounding 16.20 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which would shatter the Major League record set in 2014 by Minnesota’s Phil Hughes when he posted 11.63 ratio, had Kershaw not missed a chunk of the season.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner has been dominant at home in 2016, going 7-1 with a 1.19 ERA, with 80 strikeouts and four walks in 68 innings over nine starts. Kershaw has yet to face the Rockies this season.
He’s opposed by Chad Bettis, who enters 13-7 with a 4.79 ERA, 4.22 FIP and 1.37 WHIP. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in one start against the Dodgers this season, and 6-5 overall on the road with a 4.84 ERA.
Bettis is 7-2 with a 4.18 ERA in his past 15 starts. One of the losses during that span was on the road at the hands of the Dodgers on July 2. Justin Turner went 3-for-4 with one double in that game, and Adrian Gonzalez and Trayce Thompson each had two RBI.
Saturday is the Dodgers’ 115th game of the season. They clinched the NL West in Game 153 of 2013, Game 159 in 2014, and Game 157 last season.
But in order to do so against the Colorado Rockies, the Dodgers will need the San Diego Padres to defeat Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants.
If not, Los Angeles can still clinch during Vin Scully Weekend at Dodger Stadium with a win Saturday, and a win or Giants’ loss on Sunday.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
C: Yasmani Grandal
RF: Josh Reddick
LF: Howie Kendrick
CF: Joc Pederson
P: Clayton Kershaw
Rockies lineup:
CF: Charlie Blackmon
SS: Daniel Descalso
3B: Nolan Arenado
LF: Ryan Raburn
RF: Gerardo Parra
1B: Stephen Cardullo
2B: Pat Valaika
C: Tony Wolters
P: Jon Gray
