Dodgers News: Clayton Kershaw Stays Dominant But Finally Gives Up First Hit of Spring
Three starts into his 2017 spring training, Clayton Kershaw was yet to concede a hit, let alone a run. He needed just three more innings until he reach the combined nine-inning no-hitter.
Mike Moustakas changed all of that with one swing of the bat when he took Kershaw deep in the 1st inning of Sunday’s game against the Royals.
Solo shot to Moustakas, is the 1st hit or run, Kershaw has allowed all Spring.
— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) March 12, 2017
Even though Kershaw gave up both his first hit and run in his Sunday afternoon start, there were many more positives that can be taken from it.
He added four more innings with one earned run, to the six shutout innings he already compiled over the last three starts. That leaves him with ten innings pitched and a 0.90 earned run average over four starts.
His final line for the day looked like this:
Wynston Sawyer is pinch hitting for Clayton Kershaw. Final line: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K. #Dodgers
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) March 12, 2017
Dominating on the mound was not the only thing that Kershaw did today. He also took the team’s first at bat of the spring that came from a pitcher. An at bat in which he saw seven pitches and ended up with an infield single.
Kershaw sees 7 pitches in his first AB of spring and gets an infield single. #Dodgers
— . (@THEREAL_DV) March 12, 2017
According to Alanna Rizzo of Sports Net LA, it was not pretty, but hey, it is a line drive in the box score.
#Dodgers' pitchers begin hitting in games today. Clayton Kershaw just got a hit. It was an ugly one, but called a hit, nonetheless.
— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) March 12, 2017
Andy McCullough of the LA Times pointed out that Kershaw had given up as many hits as he had earned at the time of his infield single.
Clayton Kershaw has now recorded this spring as many hits as he has allowed.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) March 12, 2017
We have come to expect this kind of excellence from Clayton Kershaw day in and day out, yet he still seems to leave us in awe at what he contributes to the team in more ways than one.
[graphiq id=”lpz0lyeYVKt” title=”Clayton Kershaw Career BABIP and Batting Average” width=”600″ height=”598″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/lpz0lyeYVKt” ]The Dodgers starting pitching staff has collectively shown their talent over the last few games, giving all fans a taste at what they could potentially see from the squad in 2017.
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