LOS ANGELES — Having misplaced 4 in a row and their lead within the NL West, the Dodgers entered Friday evening’s sequence opener in opposition to the surging Padres needing to play with some urgency.
“We have been speaking just a little bit right this moment about depth, and there is simply no yet one more intense or targeted than Clayton,” supervisor Dave Roberts stated beforehand. “He has a approach of elevating individuals’s focus and play. And so to have him tonight, first sport of this sequence, he is the proper man.”
Kershaw delivered simply what his workforce wanted, holding the Padres to at least one run throughout six sturdy innings because the Dodgers reclaimed a share of first place within the division with a 3-2 victory at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles has taken six of its first eight contests in opposition to San Diego this yr, one win away from clinching the season sequence and a possible postseason tiebreaker.
The Dodgers aren’t enjoying for a tiebreaker, although. They’re attempting to play in order that they will not want one.
“It is a sport in August, clearly. It isn’t that massive a deal,” Kershaw stated. “However the way in which we have been going, it felt like an enormous sport for us. Grateful that we acquired a win.”
Taking over the Dodgers’ main competitors within the division, Kershaw gave up a solo shot to Ramón Laureano within the second inning however in any other case saved the Padres off the board. He allowed solely three baserunners throughout his outing, the final of whom was erased on a double play in his sixth and remaining inning.
The Dodgers backed Kershaw with some small ball within the third inning, constructing a lead on a Shohei Ohtani RBI fielder’s selection and a Mookie Betts sacrifice fly. They later acquired an important insurance coverage run from Teoscar Hernández, who took reliever Jeremiah Estrada deep within the seventh.
Kershaw has persistently contributed priceless innings since making his season debut in Could, however he is been particularly efficient in August. He is pitched six innings in every of his previous three begins, permitting simply two runs in that span.
“I believe he is constructed for these huge moments,” Hernández stated. “He is a legend. He helped us keep within the sport. He gave up the homer early, however after that, he was like classic Clayton Kershaw.”
Throughout the Dodgers’ four-game dropping streak, three of the losses have been determined by one run and charged to relievers who had appeared within the eighth inning or later. On condition that development, Roberts had not too long ago expressed a want to push his starters to go deeper when the scenario referred to as for it.
Though Kershaw wanted solely 76 pitches to finish six innings, Roberts felt that this was not a type of conditions. One cause is that Kershaw must be lined as much as begin subsequent Thursday in Denver, which might take a further toll on the physique. One other is that the Dodgers want to have the ability to depend on their bullpen arms, and the one approach for them to get again on monitor is to pitch higher.
“The place [the Padres were] at, in that a part of the order, we now have different guys that should do their job too,” Roberts stated. “For Clayton to offer us six sturdy innings of one-run baseball, he did his job. And so for me, there was no cause I felt that I wanted to push him extra.”
It took 5 arms to get by means of the ultimate three innings, however the bullpen acquired the job completed. Ben Casparius pitched a scoreless seventh. Alex Vesia, who has struggled in his previous few outings, gave up a run on a sac fly within the eighth, however Blake Treinen took over and wanted just one pitch to strand a pair of runners. Within the ninth, Roberts turned to a mix of Alexis Díaz and Jack Dreyer.
The late innings have been tough for the Dodgers to piece collectively recently, a pointy distinction to the workforce with whom they at the moment share first place within the division. However they’re nonetheless assured within the expertise they’ve, particularly with reinforcements on the way in which.
And there is a perception across the workforce that sequence like these can deliver out the most effective in them.
“It’s going to be a enjoyable six weeks,” Kershaw stated. “The Padres are going to be proper there, we’re going to be proper there. We acquired numerous video games in opposition to them the following 10 days, clearly. The division isn’t received or misplaced within the subsequent 10 days. However it can make an impression.”
