Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw Doesn’t Hold Back On Poor Performance vs Rays: ‘First Inning Can’t Happen’
The Dodgers dropped their game on Saturday night to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 9-8 but were down 4-0 at one point. Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw didn’t have his best stuff and was rocked for four runs in the first inning.
He managed to settle down after the first inning and thankfully for him, the Dodgers offense woke up. Los Angeles trimmed the deficit down to 4-3 before the Rays grabbed another run.
The Dodgers eventually took the lead but still ended up losing the game in extra innings. After the fact, Kershaw addressed his poor performance but credited the team for showing what they could do despite the early deficit.
“Yeah, that first inning can’t happen,” Kershaw said. “Get behind that much that early, it’s tough to come back from. But our team showed what they can do tonight. They came back and battled. I can’t say enough good things about what these guys did offensively.”
Despite a poor first inning, Kershaw was essentially able to shut things down the rest of the way. The Dodgers will take that and can try to correct some things that went wrong in the first inning for the veteran.
Overall, he finished the game throwing five innings, allowing five runs, nine hits, and striking out five batters.
This was the worst start for Kershaw in a while as the left-hander had been rolling of late. He hadn’t allowed more than three runs in any start since he made his return this season.
On the season, Kershaw now owns a record of 2-2 and an ERA of 3.72. He has struck out 24 batters over 29 innings of work as well.
With the loss, Los Angeles’s slim lead in the National Lead West was trimmed down to just three games. The team leads the Arizona Diamondbacks currently but also has the San Diego Padres looming large.
Every game is important as the team enters into the crucial point in the season. They will need Kershaw to be on his A-game down the stretch of the season.
Los Angeles will look to take the series against the Rays on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. PT from Dodger Stadium.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, livestreams, and more!
RETIRE… It’s OVER…He has NO business starting a playoff game this year.
In fairness, his August ERA, including this performance, is under 3.0 for his 4 starts. The prior 3 starts were a little over 16 innings, where he gave up only 2 earned runs. His ERA for the year is something like 3.75. Not great, but a healthy Kershaw is on the playoff roster – exactly where he should be and is needed. No, I’m not a Kershaw fan boy, and I’m well aware of his playoff history (not just last year’s debacle, which I hang on Roberts), but you don’t leave a future HOF, career Dodger, off the playoff roster if he’s healthy. How they utilize him is a different story altogether, but if either Yamamoto or Glasnow are not ready for the playoffs, he has to be there and in the starting rotation.