Clayton Kershaw was in peak form Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. But his night ended in disappointing fashion after nine innings of work. The Los Angeles Dodgers recovered however, winning on Logan Forsythe’s walk-off double in the 13th inning.
Yasmani Grandal’s solo home run to straightaway center field in the bottom of the first inning provided the lead, but his inability to corral a slider in the ninth inning doomed Kershaw and the Dodgers.
Lance Lynn did his part to keep the Cardinals in the game, recording nine strikeouts and limiting Los Angeles to just two hits and one run over eight innings. That it came in the first inning was a familiar story for the right-hander, as Lynn entered with a 6.75 ERA in the opening frame this season.
The Cardinals’ first hit was a Yadier Molina one-out single in the second inning. However, after a Johnny Peralta strike out, Molina was caught stealing. Kershaw proceeded to face the minimum through five innings.
He was aided by a Corey Seager diving stop and a stretch from Adrian Gonzalez on the backend of the play to end the fifth. The Cardinals’ first look at the game was in the sixth, when Aledmys Diaz led off with a double to center field.
He advanced to third base one batter later, but was stranded as Kershaw struck out Lynn and Dexter Fowler. The Dodgers then avoided trouble in the seventh inning when Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson collided on Matt Carpenter’s drive to the gap.
Bellinger managed to make the catch for the second moments before his momentum carried him onto Pederson’s back. Known to have his share of interesting plays, Yasiel Puig held his palms out as to question his young teammates on what transpired.
Kershaw struck out the side in the eighth inning to give him 10 strikeouts on the night. It was Kershaw’s 53rd career time with double-digit strikeouts, and second such game this season.
While the Dodgers avoided disaster in the sixth, they weren’t as lucky in the ninth inning. Randal Grichuk led off with a single and moved into scoring position on a fielder’s choice.
A slider in the dirt kicked away from Grandal, who then had trouble locating the ball. That allowed Grichuk to score from second base, tying the game. The Dodgers’ last complete-game shutout remained one year ago to the date, and was courtesy of… Clayton Kershaw.
Kenley Jansen worked his way through a scoreless 10th inning, but it may have come at a cost for the Dodgers. Pederson and Puig collided in right-center field, with both players running at full speed.
While Puig managed to make the circus catch to end the inning, his elbow appeared to strike Pederson in the neck and he went face-first into the fence. Both players remained on the ground for a few moments. Pederson was first to his feet and was bleeding from his forehead.
Puig eventually rose and continued to grab at his left ribcage area. Pederson and Puig managed to walk off the field under their own power.
Forsythe drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the 11th and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. On ball four to Seager, Molina attempted to backpick Forsythe at second base, only for his throw to carom into shallow right field.
Both runners were stranded as Seung-Hwan Oh got Grandal to chase a pitch in the dirt. Oh struck out the side in the 12th inning. Jonathan Broxton walked Kiké Hernandez with two outs in the 13th, setting the table for Forsythe’s walk-off double.
Forsythe finished 1-for-5 with four strikeouts and one walk in his return from the disabled list. His hit was just the Dodgers’ third of the game. Los Angeles improved to 42-11 whenever Kershaw collects a minimum of 10 strikeouts in a start.
