Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is a virtual lock to make the Baseball Hall of Fame. On Sunday, Kershaw pitched like he is truly destined for Cooperstown, as the 36-year-old star put up his best performance yet in the 2024 MLB regular season when he tossed six scoreless frames versus the St. Louis Cardinals on the road.
Despite his fantastic showing on the mound, Kershaw said that he wished to have some of his pitches “back.”
“I felt fine today, Kershaw told reporters in the locker room following the Dodgers' win over the Cardinals, per SportsNet LA.
“I think there were some misses I'd like to have back, but you know, they were swinging a lot and putting the ball on the ground.”
Kershaw led the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory in the series finale at Busch Stadium against the Cards, allowing zero earned runs and just a walk with only four hits surrendered through 70 pitches — 42 for strikes. He was only able to strike out two Cardinals hitters but nevertheless got his second pitching win of the season. Overall in the 2024 campaign, Kershaw now has a 2-2 record to go with a 2.63 ERA and 1.25 WHIP.
For what it's worth, Kershaw is now just six such starts away from hitting a “100” pitching milestone, per Blake Harris.
“Today was the 94th time in his career that Clayton Kershaw has tossed 6+ scoreless innings Since 1930, only six pitchers have more such games.”
It has been a solid August for Kershaw. Through three starts this month, he has gone 2-1 with just two earned runs given up and three walks issued through 16.1 innings across three starts. That checks out as a 1.10 ERA and 0.92 WHIP for Kershaw this August, and he will most likely have one more start before the end of the month.
The Dodgers were not able to provide Kershaw and Los Angeles' pitching staff with healthy run support, but the two runs they scored were enough to give them a win. Shohei Ohtani generated the first run of the game with a solo home run in the fifth inning, and then Miguel Rojas' RBI single in the same frame proved to be the game-winning run for Los Angeles, which improved its record to 73.52.
Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, and Michael Kopech combined for three scoreless innings with only a couple of hits allowed to finish the job on the mound for the Dodgers.
After winning the three-game series, 2-1, against the Cardinals, the Dodgers fly back to the West Coast for three series in a row at Dodger Stadium. That begins this Monday with the start of a three-leg series against the Seattle Mariners followed by interleague sets opposite the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles.
Clayton Kershaw's fantastic start in Dodgers vs. Cardinals series finale sparks reactions
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“The fact that hes not satisfied enough and wants to fix things despite the great performance is why hes the 🐐 keep going kersh, we need you 🙏” – @iWinYouQuit.
“K, you rocked! Wish the offense could have gotten you more than 2 runs but we won and you won so huzzah!! 🙌” – @nic_ly1028.
“Kershaw was an artist today, masterful performance.” – @david_misrahi
“Beating the “washed” allegations” – @Brewin07
“Kershaw had back to back games he pitched well and we need him to perform desperately. Thanks Kershaw. He’s the only pitcher who has returned from an injury whose has done an excellent job.” – @RayvGuzmanJr1
