Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw had a strong outing on Tuesday night against the powerful Philadelphia Phillies lineup, giving up just one earned run. Reflecting on his performance, Kershaw said, “I felt pretty good overall. Made some dumb mistakes tonight—couple guys got on base with an 0-2 count, which shouldn’t happen. Those were frustrating, but overall, it was another good step in the right direction.”
Kershaw noted improvements in his pitching, particularly with his fastball location. “My stuff was a little bit better tonight, a little crisper,” he said. “I had better fastball location, which was probably the biggest thing. Still some mistakes, but overall, it was a good building block.”
Kershaw has been working on adjustments to his delivery, which seemed to show in the results, especially early in the game. “Just kind of fine-tuning everything, but tonight there were some good parts of it for sure,” he remarked.
When asked about his pitch count, Kershaw mentioned the goal of going deeper into games. “I just have to figure out how to maintain my pitch count. My pitch count will keep getting higher, but you have to find a way to get through at least five, hopefully six or seven innings,” he explained. “We don’t really talk about pitch count before the game. If I had a quick fifth, I probably could have gone back out, but the fifth there threw a lot of pitches.”
Kershaw also shared his thoughts on staying competitive and contributing to the team’s success. “You want to win the game. Health-wise, I’m fine, so it’s just a matter of trying to pitch well and be a contributing factor to helping this team win games,” he stated.
Kershaw expressed sympathy for his teammate who suffered an injury, acknowledging the hard work that goes into recovering and getting back on the field. “Super sad. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into coming back and getting on this field. We all feel for him. He loves to pitch, he loves to be out there, he loves to be with us,” Kershaw said. “If this is a season-ender, it’s really hard. But the good thing for him is he’s young and has a really good arm, and he’ll be able to bounce back and be good next year.”
Overall, Kershaw’s outing was a positive step forward, with better command and a strong performance against a formidable lineup.
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