Clayton Kershaw issued his first walk of the spring in his last outing, and on Sunday simultaneously allowed his first hit and run of the year. Kershaw shook off the solo home run to complete four innings against the Kansas City Royals, with four strikeouts.
Mike Moustakas’ solo home run in the bottom of the first gave the Royals a 1-0 lead. That was short-lived, however, as the Dodgers tied the game two batters into the second inning. Nathan Karns allowed a leadoff triple to Charlie Culberson, followed by an RBI single to Tyler Holt.
Kershaw, batting for the first time, hit an infield single on the seventh pitch of his at-bat. Chase Utley worked a walk to load the bases, and Joc Pederson cashed it in by lining an RBI single to right field.
Justin Turner’s two-run double extended the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1 before Karns could escape the inning. Royals reliever Andrew Edwards ended the third with back-to-back strikeouts, but not before allowing an RBI double to Brett Eibner.
Other than a Lorenzo Cain two-out single in the third inning, the Royals didn’t muster much of anything off Kershaw during his final three innings of work.
Mike Minor erased a leadoff walk in the fifth by inducing Holt into a double play, and the left-hander then stranded pinch-hitter Wynston Sawyer after his two-out single. Minor followed that by setting the Dodgers down in order in the sixth.
Jorge Soler collected just his third hit of the spring, lining a two-out base hit into center field off Dodgers reliever Fabio Castillo. Soler advanced to second base on a passed ball, Whit Merrifield walked, but both runners were stranded.
Yasmani Grandal and Drew Jackson singled in the seventh, though it didn’t amount to anything and the Dodgers’ lead remained 5-1. After Ralston Cash walked Humberto Arteaga in the bottom of the seventh inning, Arteaga stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Billy Burns’ bloop single.
With two on and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Shea Spitzbarth was the victim of some bad luck as a pop-up back of first base dropped for an RBI double. Wilmer Font replaced Spitzbarth and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch prior to getting out of the inning.
Colt Hynes took over in the ninth and retired the side in order to earn a save in the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory.
