Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — You know, if this Kershaw kid keeps pitching like this, he just might make the postseason roster. We might have hoped for good things from the Dodgers’ ace lefty as he came off the IL a couple of weeks ago, but so far, he’s exceeded all expectations. For the fourth time in four starts in September, Kersh was brilliant, going six solid innings, pitching out of trouble when he needed to, and coming within a split-second of having a scoreless outing. And, in an added bonus, Clayton bought his strikeout stuff to the party, posting 10 K’s in the scorebook before he was done.
While all that was going in on the mound, the Dodgers got a mammoth solo home run from Joey Gallo and a three-run wall-scraper from Chris Taylor to give the Dodgers a 5-2 victory in the first game of his week-long home stand.
Gallo see ball, Gallo hit ball hard
One thing about Joey Gallo. When he connects, balls fly far. And when they do, it is a thing to behold. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Gallo obliterated a pitch from D-backs starter Merrill Kelly in a way that only a handful of guys on the planet can. It cleared the pavilion in right center and bounced high off the concrete of the concourse before landing in the waiting arms of an ecstatic fan. Those who liked the longball got their money’s worth on that one swing of the bat. The blast put the Dodgers up 1-0, a lead that they would never relinquish.
Lightning-quick rally plates four in the 4th
The next runs of the ball game all happened in the space of a quick trip to the snack bar. Pity the folks who chose the Dodgers’ half of the 4th as the time to get their helmet nachos for the night. Because in that inning, in the space of a half-dozen pitches, the Dodgers pushed their lead to 5-0. First, Max Muncy ripped a one-out double to right. Then, two pitches after that, Joey Gallo drove Muncy home with a single and took second on some sloppy D in the Arizona outfield. On the next pitch, Gavin Lux came through with a single of his own, and took second on a throw to the plate. On the pitch after that, Chris Taylor drilled a home run into the seats to the right of the Dodgers bullpen in left field.
Initially, it was thought to be just a double because it hopped back into the field of play creating confusion on whether it had gone out or just banged off the top of the low wall. However, upon review, it turned out that it was indeed a home run, one that a Dodger fan completely whiffed on catching and it was only after the ball hit the guy in the gut did it carom back onto the outfield grass. However you sliced, the ball was gone — a three-run jack for Taylor.
Another dominant start from Kersh
Regular readers of DodgersBeat know that we are big fans of Clayton Kershaw around here. So, it does our sportswriter hearts good to see him come back and be so effective. After his August trip to the IL, you didn’t know what to expect. He could have come back like in 2021 and get shelled and then have to go back on the IL.
And that could still happen. But for now, Dave Roberts and Team Friedman have got to be pleased with what their guy is doing, looking very much like that cornerstone of the franchise that he is. For much of the night, the D-backs hitters were overmatched — Kershaw struck out ten, many of them swinging. It’s the third time this year Kersh has hit a double-digit strikeout total. Who does he think he is, Andrew Heaney?
Kershaw wasn’t perfect in this one; he did scatter six hits hits (five singles and a double) over his six innings on the mound, and he did have a couple of jams that he needed to work out of.
The one jam that cost him a run was in the D-backs’ 5th, when Snakes backstop Carson Kelly led off with a double and Arizona had runners on the corners with just one out. It looked for a hot minute like Kersh would pitch out of it when he got what could have been an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play, but shortstop Geraldo Perdomo just did beat it out at first base, a call that the Dodgers challenged but was upheld on review.
Kershaw went one more inning after that and gave up a couple of singles, but got the two-out groundball that he needed to end the inning with no damage done. The line for the night for Clayton: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K.
Lux bails Kimbrel out to preserve win
After having a spectacular night on Sunday, Craig Kimbrel was definitely NOT spectacular on Monday. Coming in in the 9th to lock down a 5-1 game, Kimbrel was very wild at the start of his outing. He gave up a single to the leadoff man and then plunked the next two hitters to load up the bases with nobody out. Suddenly that four-run lead wasn’t looking so comfortable anymore.
However, it was Gavin Lux to the rescue. Lux, playing second for only the second time this month, had to make a diving stab at a line drive that had RBI single written all over it. Sergio Alcantara ripped the liner up the middle and Lux lunged to his right to make a backhand stop of the ball on a shortest of short hops. Luxy quickly gathered himself and flipped the ball to Trea Turner at second for the force. Turner then wisely threw the ball to third to get Josh Rojas out after a short rundown. The lead runner scored, but the inning looked a whole lot different with two outs on the scoreboard.
A few pitches later, outfielder Daulton Varsho popped out to end the threat, and the game. And Craig Kimbrel owes Lux a steak dinner.
Doubleheader on Tuesday
Get ready for a whole lot of Dodger baseball on Tuesday. It is a rare scheduled doubleheader. Looks like the pitching for the day has been finalized as well. In the afternoon game, rookie prospect Michael Grove will take to the mound against Zach Davies. And in the nightcap, it will be proud new papa Tyler Anderson against rookie Drey Jameson, who was fantastic in his big-league debut last time out. It’s Dia de los Dodgers at the Stadium, complete with a separate admission and a skeleton bobblehead for both games. Afternoon game starts at 12:10. First pitch in the second game will be the usual 7:10.
Cans of Corn…
- Kershaw’s ERA since coming back to the team is now 1.50.
- Not that we needed to be told this, but Monday’s win locked up a bye in the first round of the new expanded playoffs. A few more wins and they’ll have the #1 seed, but not quite there yet.
- Apparently Evan Phillips‘s nickname back in college was “Honey Bun”. So, teammate Alex Vesia had some T-shirts that say “High Leverage Honey Bun — Evan Phillips” with an image of you guessed it on the front of the shirt.
- Gil Hodges‘ widow Joan passed away over the weekend. Nice that she got to see all the celebration of her late husband before she passed.
- According to Dave Roberts, both Treinen and Graterol felt good after facing live hitters on Monday. Treinen activation set for Thursday. Graterol shortly thereafter.
- Ryan Pepiot will be the extra body on hand for the double header on Tuesday, likely to piggyback off Grove’s start in Game 1 of the twin-bill.
