Clayton Kershaw struggled in a second consecutive Cactus League start and the Los Angeles Dodgers were no-hit through five innings in an 11-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics in game shortened to eight frames.
Heading into the night Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the focus was to get Kershaw through at least five innings, regardless of the results. “The goal is still to build up. If we can get him into the sixth inning, I think that would be great,” Roberts added.
“It’s all about pitch count right now. With Clayton, as he’s got one more before Opening Day, it’s kind of fine tuning command with his breaking ball, his slider and obviously the fastball. So that’s kind of it.
“It’s not really about the results. Understanding he’ll see them in his second start of the season, so you don’t want to show too much but you’re still going to get your work in.”
Kershaw wound up having a dud as he allowed nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits and two walks in just 3.1 innings. He exited with the bases loaded, and saw two runs added to his ledger when Victor Gonzalez issued a pair of walks before getting through the fourth.
The Dodgers were stymied throughout the night by Cole Irvin, who struck out 10 over six shutout innings. He walked Mookie Betts to lead off the bottom of the first inning, then held the Dodgers without a baserunner until putting Justin Turner on with two outs in the fourth.
Gavin Lux pulled a grounder that went off the bag for a leadoff single in the sixth inning and the Dodgers’ first hit of the night. But like the two walks earlier in the game, it didn’t amount to anything for L.A.
James Outman doubled with two outs in the eighth, which wound being the Dodgers’ final hit as the game was shortened one inning early.
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