LOS ANGELES — By the time Tyler Glasnow walked off the mound after the first inning Saturday night, Dodger Stadium had already ridden a full roller coaster: a bases-clearing double, a walk with the bags full, and 43 tense pitches that put the Dodgers in a 4–0 hole. Glasnow didn’t sugarcoat it. “It was rough from the jump,” he said to us in the locker room after the win. “It was hard to get a feel. The release point was inconsistent. I didn’t really have anything.” The rest was about stubbornness and competitive muscle memory. “I just tried to compete as hard as I can,” he added. “It ended up getting back online. Still a little weird, but I’m glad we could get the W.”
That—more than a spotless line—was the story. After the chaos, Glasnow steadied. He punched out seven, made enough pitches to strand traffic, and got the game to the middle innings with a chance. Along the way, the offense threw him a rope: Max Muncy’s two-run blast in the first chopped the deficit in half, and by the fourth the Dodgers had dragged it back to even. Glasnow said that energy was fuel. “That game could have ended a lot differently for me,” he admitted. “I’m glad I could go back out and compete. We stuck in the game the whole time and it was easy for me to feed off that—getting the two-run homer and then just keep going. I’m glad I was able to salvage it and get a W.”
If the first inning was a mechanics quiz he hadn’t studied for, the next four were a reminder that October often belongs to starters who can win without their best. Glasnow is embracing that growth. “There’s always a balance,” he said of battling versus tinkering. “Today was all over the place. It was encouraging that I could go back out and compete. There are still things I need to fix, but it’s better now.” Then he offered a veteran’s reframing of recent bumps: “Having the last two be so out of whack is maybe a blessing in disguise. Just get it ironed out this next start and go into the postseason feeling confident.”
Part of the confidence comes from getting back to his athletic baseline after time on the IL. “I think my ability to find that balance has grown over the season,” Glasnow said. “Going back to what I was doing before—just getting that familiar, athletic mechanic. When in doubt, you go back and compete. When you’re trying something new, you don’t really know how to make adjustments. Coming back from the IL, I just tried to be athletic and compete, and it worked out today.”
It helped that the lineup kept hammering. Michael Conforto’s solo shot jump-started the fourth, Tommy Edman’s no-doubt fifth-inning homer put the Dodgers ahead, and Shohei Ohtani’s 53rd in the sixth gave them the breathing room the bullpen protected. Glasnow didn’t miss how his team’s identity is sharpening for October. “We stuck in it the whole time,” he said. “When the offense answers like that, it’s easy to keep going.”
Zooming out, this weekend was about more than one start or one win: it was a tribute to Clayton Kershaw, and Glasnow was openly moved to be part of it. “I’m from the area and I watched him,” he said. “He’s not even that much older than me, but I feel like I was so young watching him on TV. He was one of my favorite players. To be his teammate—it’s super surreal.” The appreciation is rooted in daily example, not just highlight reels. “It’s incredible how consistent he is,” Glasnow said. “Eighteen years of the craziest work ethic and ability to stay locked in more than anyone I’ve ever played with. Some guys after that long might get complacent. His hunger to compete is the same as day one. He still walks around with that intense aura. The ability to lock in at all times—every day of the year—it seems like.”
That perspective deepened in the clubhouse during Kershaw’s emotional announcement. “Going in that room and watching the interview—watching him get choked up when he started talking about the teammates—was a crazy feeling,” Glasnow told us. “Everyone sees how meaningful the team is and how meaningful his career is as a Dodger. To be here to share it with him, even just looking from afar, has been super surreal.”
The Dodgers will need more of Saturday’s version of Glasnow—the fighter who keeps the game on the tracks when the first inning goes off the rails. He knows where the adjustments live, and he knows the calendar. One more start to lock in, then the lights get brighter. “There are things to fix,” he said, “but it’s better now. Get it ironed out this next start and go into the postseason feeling confident.”
On a night when the rivalry record tilted blue, the magic number dropped, and the power bats flexed yet again, Glasnow’s takeaway was simple and playoff-proof: compete, trust your base, and ride your teammates’ energy. The Dodgers did all three, and another September win followed.
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