Steve Webb
ANAHEIM, CA — We all wanted that so bad for him. Drat! There is always a bittersweet feeling when a no-hitter gets broken up late in the game. On one hand, you got to see something really special. But on the other, ah what might have been!
Clayton Kershaw pitched seven perfect innings of baseball on Friday night in Anaheim. No runs. No hits. No errors. No Walks. Perfect. Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ offense were piling up the runs against the hapless Angel pitching staff. But it was not to be. Kershaw would not make history in this one and join Sandy Koufax as the only Dodgers to have pitched perfect games. The leadoff hitter in the bottom of the 8th, Luis Rengifo, smacked a solid double down the left field line, and that was that. Kershaw exited the game having surrendered just that one hit, and the Dodgers put another W in the ledger by a score of 9-1.
Dodgers attack early and often
There could have been a little let down as the Dodgers rolled into Anaheim. After all, they’d won 13 of the last 15 ballgames and were coming off a nice series win against playoff contending St. Louis. On the other hand, the Angels aren’t contending for anything this year, unless it’s the first pick in next year’s draft.
But the Dodgers came to play in this one, getting on the board while most Dodger fans were still stuck on the 5 Freeway. After Angel starter Patrick Sandoval walked leadoff man Mookie Betts, Trea Turner kept it going with a single. Freddie Freeman stepped in and continued his hot hitting ways, ripping an RBI single to right. Justin Turner hit a ground ball that scored a run, so before the Angels had recorded an out in the game, the Dodgers were up 2-0. The game was barely ten minutes old and already Clayton Kershaw had more than enough runs to work with.
Kershaw the picture of efficiency
The book on Clayton Kershaw is pretty simple. If you’re going to get him, you attack him early in the count because the guy loves to throw first pitch strikes. Which is all true. However, when Kershaw’s stuff is working, that translates into a lot of hitters making weak contact and getting out very quickly.
There was plenty of both in the early going. It wasn’t until the final hitter of the third inning that Kersh had a three-ball count on anybody. The guy wasn’t within a mile of a walk all night. The first time through the batting order, Kershaw was perfectly balanced. Three strikeouts. Three flyouts. Three groundouts.
Defense shows up big time
If Kersh had made history in this one, he would have a lot of steak dinners to buy for his fielders. Justin Turner made a couple of good plays (one of them incredible) at third. Trea Turner was awesome at short. Hanser Alberto made a lunging stab of a liner at second, and Freddie Freeman was scooping up everything in sight at first. It was probably the best defensive game that the Dodgers have played all year.
Bats keep on bashing
Meanwhile the offense was pouring it on. In the top of the 5th, Hanser Alberto turned a bit of a misplay from Joe Adell in right into a two-run triple. Then in the 6th, after reliever Jose Marte walked the bases loaded, the Dodgers got the kind of clutch hitting that seemed to have been missing of late.
First Freddie Freeman hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0. Then, Will Smith doubled to plate another run. Finally, Justin Turner banged a single into left field and the Dodgers were officially cruising.
In 8th, just for kicks, Justin Turner decided to drive in his fourth run of the night. After Will Smith had tripled, JT squirted a hot grounder through the 6 hole, which scored Smith easily. It was 9-0 Dodgers, and Clayton Kershaw still had a perfecto going into the bottom of the 8th.
Damn you, Luis Rengifo!
It was a familiar name that ended the no-hit bid on Friday. Luis Rengifo, who was a Dodger for about twelve seconds in the ill-fated Joc Pederson trade in 2020, came to the plate to lead off the Angels’ half of the 8th. By now, the entire stadium had given up any pretense of caring about one team or the other. Everybody stood as one and tried to will Kershaw over the finish line.
But Clayton’s first pitch to Rengifo was a rare first-pitch ball on an inside slider that the Angel infielder wouldn’t bite on. Kersh got back into the count when Rengifo fouled off the second pitch, but it was the third that ended up being his undoing. He threw a curve that wasn’t much of a competitive pitch. Rengifo laid off, and Kersh was once again behind in the count. Rather than challenge him with a fastball, Kershaw tried to get one more swing and miss out of his slider. Instead, he caught way to much of the plate with it and WHACK! A solid double into left. At that point, you could only shake your head and shrug. It was a clean hit. The magic carpet ride had ended.
Because Clayton pitch count was still fine, manager Dave Roberts left Kershaw in the game to finish the inning. He got three quick outs, and stranded Rengifo at third. He left the mound and acknowledged the cheers of the the fans. His night was over. The final line: 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. Simply spectacular.
Reyes Moronta finished things up in the 9th and surrendered a homer to Brandon Marsh, but it hardly mattered. The real show had ended one inning earlier.
God bless you, Clayton Kershaw. May your 2022 continue to be magical all the way to another ring in October.
Dodgers wrap up first half on Saturday
The All-Star game is coming soon, but the Dodgers have some business to attend to first. One last game is on the schedule before the team gets some well-deserved rest. Hoping to send the Dodgers back home a winner on Saturday will be Julio Urías, who takes the mound after one of the more difficult outings of his career last Sunday, in that insane game that saw 17 runs scored in the first three innings. Let’s hope we can close out the Angels with a little less drama on Saturday. 7:10 first pitch.
Cans of Corn
- Kershaw acknowledged after the game that had it not been for the defense, he might have given up four or five hits in this one.
- Clayton has become the only pitcher in MLB history since `1961 to pitch seven perfect innings twice in a season.
- Other than the disaster in Colorado, Kershaw has given up five earned runs over the last six starts.
- Justin Turner was great on Friday. 3-for-5 with 4 RBI. And that defense at third! Second coming of Brooks Robinson (for a night anyway).
- Will Smith was the other hitting star of the day, going 4-for-4 and driving in a run for the 7th straight game.
- Trayce Thompson got two base hits while Pops Mychal and brother Klay were watching from the stands.
- The Dodgers have acquired former Angel closer Hansel Robles, who was struggling mightily for the Red Sox this year before getting the DFA notice in his mailbox earlier this week.
- Man, that perfect game would have been nice. Youch!
