Clayton Kershaw threw a spotless inning and collected one strikeout in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cactus League opener on Saturday at Camelback Ranch. The Chicago White Sox struck first by scoring two runs on Alex Wood in the second inning, but fell 5-3.
After throwing 12 pitches in the first inning, Kershaw retired to the bullpen and fired 17 more. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said prior to Saturday’s game that it was Kershaw’s preference to only go one inning, because of the longer Spring Training as a result of the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Logan Forsythe started at second base and hit leadoff, grounding out on the eighth pitch of his at-bat to start the bottom half of the first. Yasmani Grandal singled with two outs, though it didn’t amount to anything.
Spotted a 2-0 lead by his offense, White Sox prospect Carson Fulmer held the Dodgers to just one hit across two shutout innings. He struck out three and issued one walk.
Chris Beck took over in the third inning and quickly found himself in some trouble. Forsythe’s double was followed by a Corey Seager walk to put two runners on with one out. Justin Turner’s first hit of Spring Training was an RBI single that cut the Dodgers’ deficit in half.
Grandal added to his day by driving an RBI double to the right-center field gap, and Franklin Gutierrez’s RBI groundout gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead before Beck could get out of the inning.
Wood completed two innings, allowed two earned runs and had one strikeout. The Dodgers’ lead was quickly erased as Josh Ravin allowed a bloop double and an RBI single that tied the game. Rob Segedin drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the fourth, only to be stranded by pinch-hitter Cody Bellinger.
Madison Younginer was among the Dodgers’ non-roster invitees who entered the game in the fifth. He worked a 1-2-3 inning to keep the game locked in a tie. Brett Eibner, whom the Dodgers acquired from the Oakland Athletics in January, hit a go-ahead, solo home run in the in bottom of the sixth inning.
Fabio Castillo worked around a two-out walk in the seventh to complete a second scoreless inning of work on the afternoon. Chris Taylor singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh, stole second base, and later scored on Scott Van Slyke’s chopper up the middle.
Other than stranding a runner in the eighth and ninth innings, the White Sox did not threaten over the final two frames of the game.
