The Los Angeles Dodgers turned back the clock with a victory led by a dominant outing from Clayton Kershaw with little run support, but it came against a team that has given the southpaw troubles throughout his career.
However, the St. Louis Cardinals are not the same team they were when historically presenting a challenge to Kershaw. They are now 10-18, which places them 13th of the 15 clubs in the National League.
Still, they have some star power in their lineup, but that was no trouble for Kershaw.
The 35-year-old gave up only two hits over seven shutout innings while walking none and striking out nine. Kershaw also opened the game with 4.1 perfect innings before a single from Dylan Carlson ended the dream.
The only other hit Kershaw allowed was a single to Paul Goldschmidt in the seventh, but he made short work of the following three hitters.
Austin Barnes starts the scoring with his 4th hit of the year. pic.twitter.com/JEojymsKxy
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 30, 2023
Clayton Kershaw appears to be done at 88 pitches and 7 shutout frames. Here's his 9 strikeouts: pic.twitter.com/YxZaPdgr1w
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 30, 2023
Victory formation!
Dodgers x @Yaamava pic.twitter.com/WJCTQPcTg8
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 30, 2023
On the other hand, the Dodgers’ offense could not string much together against John Montgomery.
In the second inning, James Outman singled, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error. But things looked bleak after Trayce Thompson went down on strikes for the second out of the inning.
Austin Barnes prevented L.A. from squandering the opportunity by driving an RBI single into right-center field, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. It ended up being the only run scored in the game.
The Dodgers had five hits and didn’t threaten the Cardinals much outside of a single and a one-out walk in the first inning that was followed by two consecutive strikeouts, and a double and two-out walk in the seventh that was followed by a strikeout.
Leverage Dodgers bullpen arms shut down Cardinals
Following Kershaw, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned to Evan Phillips to pitch the eighth inning. The right-hander struck out two and walked one in a scoreless appearance.
Brusdar Graterol was trusted for the closer duties and allowed one hit during his scoreless inning to earn his second save of the season with the 1-0 victory.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
