The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered a sixth consecutive loss on Saturday night, which prompted rookie Ross Stripling, that evening’s starter, to say, “We’re going to put the team on (Clayton) Kershaw’s back [on Sunday], and hopefully he can come through.”
Not that there was any doubt whether Kershaw would answer the bell against the San Diego Padres in the homestand finale, but the first inning certainly cemented it. The Dodgers’ ace struck out the side, needing just 11 pitches to do.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ attempt to infuse some life into his offense by shaking up the lineup didn’t come with an early returns as Yasiel Puig popped up on the first pitch he saw. Drew Pomeranz proceeded to retire Kiké Hernandez and Adrian Gonzalez to finish a scoreless first inning.
Melvin Upton Jr. was called out on strikes to open the second inning, then Derek Norris snapped Kershaw’s streak of consecutive strikeouts by grounding out. Alexei Ramirez also managed to make contact, only to fly out to right field. Pomeranz matched Kershaw by retiring the side in order in the bottom of the second.
After again keeping the Padres off the bases in the third, Kershaw helped himself in the bottom half of the inning as he followed an A.J. Ellis double with an RBI single to center that gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
Ramirez ended Kershaw’s perfect game in the fifth by shooting a two-out single inside the first base line. While Kershaw’s bid for history was lost, his shutout remained intact as Puig threw a strike to second base to nail Ramirez on his attempt to leg out a double.
CONTINUE READING: Clayton Kershaw turns in dominant performance to end losing streak
