LOS ANGELES — The Cardinals got here into Saturday’s recreation with a .321 batting common towards left-handed pitchers, the very best mark within the Majors. Even throughout an underachieving begin, the Cardinals have feasted on southpaws.
But Clayton Kershaw isn’t simply every other left-hander. He will seemingly discover his approach into the Hall of Fame when eligible following his retirement. His No. 22 jersey will cling at Dodger Stadium shortly after that.
Kershaw confirmed that when once more on Saturday, hanging out 9 and tossing seven scoreless innings within the Dodgers’ 1-0 win over the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium.
“I’ve said it before this year, but tonight was his best night, as far as stuff, from start to finish,” mentioned Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts. “Just the way he tunneled tonight was exceptional. And that’s as good of a team you’re going to see versus [left-handers], and the way he dominated those guys was pretty impressive.”
From the start, it was apparent Kershaw had his finest stuff. He retired the primary 13 batters he confronted, hanging out 5. For some time, it appeared Kershaw was on his technique to one other deep perfect-game bid, one thing he flirted with twice final season.
That bid got here to an finish within the fifth inning after Dylan Carlson’s one-out single, however that was simply considered one of two hits the Cardinals had been capable of get off Kershaw via seven dominant innings.
“The fastball command was better and then my slider, especially the first four innings, was really good,” Kershaw mentioned. “It’s a tough lineup. [Paul] Goldschmidt and [Nolan] Arenado are two of the toughest at-bats that I have in the game.”
Kershaw’s four-seam fastball had just a little additional velocity early within the recreation, typically touching 92-93 mph. His signature curveball was sharp for a 3rd consecutive begin, and Kershaw’s wipeout slider stored the St. Louis offense off-balance all night time. Kershaw bought 11 swings and misses on the slider, a season excessive.
“That was the best I’ve seen his slider in a long time,” mentioned catcher Austin Barnes, who has caught most of Kershaw’s begins over the previous few seasons. “I thought he had a good plan, was attacking those guys, doing what he does. When he gets ahead, he’s really good.”
Kershaw’s outing got here to an finish after seven innings and simply 88 pitches. The left-hander mentioned he may’ve stored going into the eighth inning. After all, 68 of his 88 pitches had been for strikes and Kershaw had retired six of the final seven batters he had confronted.
But Roberts mentioned the workforce will proceed to be aware of his workload and felt strongly about going with Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol towards a right-handed-heavy lineup. Phillips bought out of some bother within the eighth and Graterol recorded the save within the ninth.
“The stuff started to tick down a little bit,” Roberts mentioned. “The last few starts we’ve ridden him. There’s a long way to go. Regardless of the outcome, it was the right decision.”
The Dodgers have definitely been asking Kershaw to be the workers ace early within the season and the left-hander has delivered time and time once more. With the win, Kershaw improved to 5-1 and his 1.89 ERA is the eighth lowest within the Majors. His 0.76 WHIP is tied with Jacob deGrom for the second lowest.
But most significantly, Kershaw leads the National League with 38 innings pitched, and pilling up innings is one thing he takes satisfaction in doing each fifth day. And to ensure that the Dodgers to perform their objectives this season, Kershaw must maintain posting sturdy numbers. Even at age 35, there’s no motive to doubt that the three-time Cy Young Award winner will just do that.
“Kershaw did a really nice job,” mentioned Cardinals supervisor Oliver Marmol. “Obviously, he’s done a nice job for a long time, and he was on his game. Located the fastball, the slider was on, landed some curveballs, kept us off-balance. He did a really nice job.”
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