Postgame – Page 12 – Dodger Thoughts

Alex Wood rounding into form for Dodgers

On September 5, 2015

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Trade deadline acquisition Alex Wood has a 1.45 ERA in his past three starts for the Dodgers after throwing seven shutout innings in a 2-0 victory at San Diego tonight.

Overall as a Dodger, Wood has a 3.43 ERA in seven starts, averaging exactly six innings per start.

Andre Ethier doubled twice, singled, walked and scored both Dodger runs this evening. With San Francisco ending its seven-game losing streak earlier, Los Angeles remained 7 1/2 games ahead of the Giants in the National League West.

— Jon Weisman

Dodgers ride up to the 7½ floor

By Jon Weisman

On September 4, 2015

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

With a dynamic offensive display tonight — five home runs, seven extra-base hits and three steals — the Dodgers drove down the Padres, 8-4, and with the seventh straight loss by the Giants, moved a season-high 7½ games ahead in the National League West.

No NL team has a bigger divisional lead than Los Angeles does.

Crawford &
Schebler &
Ruggiano &
Gonzalez &
Utley. pic.twitter.com/0PXjcn7FfZ

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 5, 2015

There were numerous heroes for the Dodgers tonight, but it’s hard not to start with right fielder Scott Schebler. In his second MLB start, Schebler went 2 for 5, took away extra bases from Justin Upton, and became only the third Dodger this century to have a home run (444 feet, in this case) and two stolen bases in the same game, after Shawn Green in 2000 and Matt Kemp in 2010.

Also homering in his third game as a Dodger was 33-year-old Justin Ruggiano, who followed Corey Seager’s RBI forceout* with a two-run, pinch-hit shot in the fifth inning put the Dodgers ahead to stay, 5-3. That’s three guys driving in runs who weren’t on the team five days ago.

Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Utley followed with homers before the inning was over, giving the Dodgers an NL record: six different innings this season with three home runs.

Utley also walked twice, and is now 11 for 47 with four doubles, a triple, two homers, five walks and three hit-by-pitches as a Dodger. That’s a .345 on-base percentage, .489 slugging percentage and .835 OPS since coming to Los Angeles.

Seager also doubled and singled, making him 4 for 9 in his MLB career, while Jimmy Rollins walked twice, stole a base, doubled and singled, making him 2,414 for 9,109 in his MLB career.

Carl Crawford actually hit the longest homer of the night for the Dodgers. Measured at 454 feet, it was the fourth-longest blast by the Dodgers in 2015, and longest by anyone not named Joc Pederson.

Mike Bolsinger had a bit of a weird night in his first start for the Dodgers since July 29. He walked two, struck out six and allowed only two hits, but both were homers, good for three runs in five innings. In all, the teams combined for eight home runs, tying a Petco Park record.

*Not gonna get into this right now …

Leapin’ legends: Kershaw has most strikeouts in a season since Koufax

By Jon Weisman

On September 2, 2015

In History, Postgame

PUMPED. (via @jon.soohoo)

A post shared by Los Angeles Dodgers (@dodgers) on Sep 2, 2015 at 9:22pm PDT

The all-time Dodger single-season strikeout leaderboard

By Jon Weisman

With one out remaining, the Dodger Stadium crowd stood at a full-throated roar of joy and awe.

And then held its breath, as Clayton Kershaw battled almost as never before.

Twice a strike away from a complete game, Kershaw allowed singles to Matt Duffy and Buster Posey. With the pitch count at 127, Don Mattingly came to the mound. About 15 seconds later, Mattingly went back to the dugout, alone.

Marlon Byrd stood in, and after two more pitches, Kershaw was again one strike away.

Then ball one. Then ball two.

Then, on his 132nd pitch of the game, tying his career high, a swing and a miss at an 89 mph slider. A glorious swing and miss.

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Kershaw struck out 15 in carrying the Dodgers’ to a 2-1 victory over San Francisco tonight, setting a career high for a season at 251 (breaking his old mark of 248), and giving Los Angeles the highest total of strikeouts for a year for a Dodger pitcher since Sandy Koufax struck out 317 in 1966.

The 15 whiffs also tied a career high for a single game, originally set at his June 18, 2014 no-hitter.

Kershaw induced 35 swinging strikes tonight, which SHATTERS the previous pitch fx era (2008-present) record of 30, which Kershaw co-held.

— Daniel Brim (@DanielBrim) September 3, 2015

This all came in another pressure-packed Dodgers-Giants game — the third-straight one-run win for the Dodgers, propelling them to 6 1/2 games ahead in the National League West. After Angel Pagan’s RBI single in the top of the sixth tied the game, Chase Utley hit his first Dodger homer to put Los Angeles back in front.

Kershaw lowered his ERA to 2.18, third in the big leagues. Since May 26, Kershaw has a 1.26 ERA with 178 strikeouts in 135 2/3 innings. In his past 750 innings, his ERA is 1.98.

In his past three games, Kershaw has struck out 39 batters, averaging 14.04 strikeouts per nine innings.

Kershaw paved the way for his complete game by averaging barely 12 pitches per inning for the first seven frames. He began the ninth at 107 pitches.

“It was a tough one with him,” Don Mattingly said. “His stuff was really good. Still crisp, we thought. He felt good. We felt like if there was any game we were going to let him go back out there, with Kenley and a few guys were basically down — Kenley was not available tonight — it was just a game that you felt like you were going to let him go for it. And that was it.”

When Mattingly visited the mound, he intended to leave Kershaw in the game as long as he was OK. He said he occasionally took him out early in games this year in order to save bullets for games like this.

Said Mattingly: “Utley told me, ‘You made a good decision by not taking me out.’ I was gonna get hurt.”

Kershaw wasn’t thinking about strikeouts in the ninth inning.

“I was just trying to get an out,” Kershaw said. “Those guys are great hitters, obviously. Duffy’s having a great year, and Posey’s Posey. Some good at-bats all night. They made me work that last inning, and I was fortunate to get one more out.”

Mike Bolsinger will make a spot start Friday, giving Kershaw and other Dodger starters an extra day of rest.

New folk hero Jose Peraza lifts Greinke, Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On September 1, 2015

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Jose Peraza isn’t purely a September callup. The 21-year-old second baseman-center fielder, the youngest Dodger position player since Adrian Beltre, had 13 plate appearances in four games for Los Angeles before today’s turn of the calendar.

But we’ll call him a late addition to the Dodgers, and what an addition so far.

The young sparkplug ignited and then all but sealed the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory over Giants ace Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants, moving Los Angeles to a 5 1/2 game lead in the National League West.

“He seemed to play fearless,” Don Mattingly said.

In the third inning, Peraza singled and soon after raced home from second base for the Dodgers’ first run off Bumgarner. And in the eighth inning, shortly after Joc Pederson’s homer off Bumgarner doubled the Dodger lead, Peraza made a spectacular play, backhanding a Brandon Belt grounder with the tying run on second base and glove-flipping to Jimmy Rollins to start an inning-ending double play.

“I was looking to get it over to Jimmy,” said Peraza, who said he practices glove-flips periodically. “Thank God it worked out.”

In doing so, Peraza saved a vintage Zack Greinke outing from the wastebasket. Greinke allowed no runs on two hits over his first seven innings, then gave up three singles for a run in the eighth, setting up the game’s most dramatic moment.

Luis Avilan, relieving Greinke, allowed a long foul ball on his first pitch and needed seven in all to get Belt, but thanks to the double play, retired his 11th batter in a row over the past six games.

Peraza dropped a second-inning pop-up for an error — so much for perfection. But that was soon a distant memory.

“Maybe I do,” said Peraza, about whether he feels the pressure of being thrust into a Giants-Dodgers pennant race in his fifth Major League game, “but it basically comes down to me doing my job, and thank God things turned out well.”

No-no, no-no — Dodgers no-hit again

By Jon Weisman

On August 30, 2015

In History, Postgame

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

Nine innings without a hit, then nine days, then nine more innings without a hit.

That’s the story for the Dodgers, who were no-hit tonight at Dodger Stadium by Jake Arrieta in a 2-0 victory by the Cubs.

Barely a week after Mike Fiers no-hit the Dodgers in Houston, Arrieta was magnificent, his 116 pitches darting in and out of the strike zone, striking out 12 and walking only Jimmy Rollins with two out in the sixth.

Kiké Hernandez reached base on a hard grounder to second baseman Starlin Castro that was ruled an error — on his postgame ESPN interview, Arrieta said he thought it was a hit. The other close calls came when Carl Crawford ended the seventh with a liner up the middle that Castro backhanded, and Hernandez hit a tough grounder to short that Addison Russell corralled for a 6-3 out. (Hernandez tweaked a hamstring running to first on the play, so that could be the most damaging aspect of this game.)

Justin Turner, Rollins and Chase Utley, the same trio that ended the game against Fiers (though in different order), made the final three outs tonight. Turner, in his first at-bat of the night, struck out. Rollins took a called strike three. And Utley, who made the final out in Josh Beckett’s no-hitter and has been involved in three no-hitters in the last nine Dodger games he has played in, struck out swinging.

The Dodgers had never been no-hit twice in the same year, and hadn’t been no-hit in consecutive years since Amos Rusie of the New York Giants and Jack Stivetts of the Boston Beaneaters did so in 1891 and 1892. Los Angeles set a National League record for fewest days between no-hitters, according to Mike Petriello. The MLB record occurred when the Chicago White Sox were no-hit on May 5-6, 1917.

There have been no-hitters at four Dodger games in the past two seasons. Most recent before that was the six-pitcher no-hitter by Seattle in 2012. That ended a 16-year drought of Dodger games without a no-hitter on either side, dating back to Hideo Nomo’s 1996 Coors Field no-hitter. Kent Mercker pitched the last no-hitter against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, in 1994.

Beyond the obvious, the frustration for the Dodgers was wasting what turned out to be some resilient pitching.

It didn’t start that way: Alex Wood was trailing by two runs after three batters, when Chris Denorfia walked with one out in the first and Kris Bryant homered. Wood struggled through the first three innings, throwing 72 pitches.

But he used only 32 pitches over his next three innings, retiring 10 of his last 11 batters. Relief pitchers Juan Nicasio and J.P. Howell generated inning-ending double plays in consecutive innings, as the Dodgers held the Cubs hitless with runners in scoring position tonight (and in the entire series, in fact).

Chicago had 13 hits, two walks and 12 left on base.

Clayton Kershaw shines as Dodgers win third straight ‘Vin Scully Returns’ game

By Jon Weisman

On August 28, 2015

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

August 22, 2013: Vin Scully announces return, Dodgers win, 6-0.

July 29, 2014: Vin Scully announces return, Dodgers win, 8-4.

August 28, 2015: Vin Scully announces return, Dodgers win, 4-1.

I do see a trend, though it hasn’t hurt to have Clayton Kershaw on the mound for two of those three games.

Tonight, Kershaw tied a season high with 14 strikeouts — one shy of the career high he set in his June 18, 2014 no-hitter — in the Dodgers’ third victory over the Cubs in five meetings this year.

Kershaw allowed a fourth-inning home run to Anthony Rizzo that tied the game at 1, but then retired the next 10 batters he faced, striking out seven, and didn’t surrender a hit the rest of the game. He threw 108 pitches in his eight innings of work.

Though Kershaw had his 31-inning home scoreless streak broken, the big lefty finished August with a 1.24 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 45 innings. He is the first Dodger pitcher to have at least 50 strikeouts in August since Hideo Nomo in 1995, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

Since May 26, Kershaw has a 1.28 ERA with 163 strikeouts in 126 2/3 innings.

Chase Utley, who tripled in the Dodgers’ first run (his first RBI with his new team) in the third inning, scored the go-ahead run from second base in the sixth on a wild pitch and throwing error. Los Angeles pushed across two more runs in the inning for breathing room.

Singular Greinke lifts double-playing Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On August 27, 2015

In Postgame

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

Zack Greinke gave up five runs in his first inning of August. For the rest of the month, his ERA was 1.36.

Greinke improved those figures with seven shutout innings today at Cincinnati, and the Dodgers needed every one of them, hanging on for a 1-0 victory.

The Dodgers grounded into five double plays, tying a team record, including a franchise record-tying three by Yasmani Grandal — then wasted a bases-loaded, none-out opportunity in the ninth with a strikeout and two foulouts.

Fortunately for Los Angeles, the first GIDP scored a run in the second inning, and it held up, despite the offensive struggles and injuries to Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig.

Only in the fifth inning did trouble find Greinke: a first-and-third situation with one out and 22 pitches already thrown in the frame. But Greinke was able to use opposing pitcher Anthony DeSciafani and technically-the-leadoff-hitter Skip Schumaker as an escape hatch, striking out both.

Greinke now has a 3.46 ERA in the first inning this year, and a 1.29 ERA after the first inning. Throwing 109 pitches, Greinke struck out nine against six baserunners today. For the year, his ERA is 1.61.

With Kenley Jansen having pitched the first two games of the series, it was up to Chris Hatcher and Jim Johnson to close out the game. And with a shutout inning apiece, they did.

The Dodgers are 4-1 in games decided by a 1-0 score this season.

Kershaw, Ellis thwarted for second time on roadtrip

By Jon Weisman

On August 23, 2015

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

On Tuesday in Oakland, Clayton Kershaw and A.J. Ellis had big games, but they went for naught in an extra-inning defeat. Today in Houston, it happened again in a 3-2, 10-inning loss to Houston — the Dodgers’ fifth straight loss.

Fiers in the hole: Dodgers no-hit in Houston

By Jon Weisman

On August 21, 2015

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

The last two times Chase Utley has played in a Dodger game, he has been on the losing end of a no-hitter.

First was May 25, 2014, when Utley made the final out in Josh Beckett’s no-hitter against the Phillies. Then came tonight.

In his first game with his new team, Utley grounded out to the right side three times and flied out once, though that made him only one of nine players who failed to record a single, double, triple or home run against Houston’s Mike Fiers. That’s the long way of saying that the Dodgers were no-hit for the first time since June 8, 2012, when five Seattle relievers (including Brandon League) finished up the final three no-hit innings for injured starter Kevin Milwood.

Final score: Houston 3, Los Angeles 0.

Three Dodgers walked: Justin Turner with two out in the first inning, Andre Ethier to start the second and Joc Pederson to begin the third. None reached second base, and Fiers retired 21 in a row after Pederson’s base on balls.

Houston left an equal number of baserunners and went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, but two home runs — by Jake Marisnick with Chris Carter on first base in the second inning, and a solo shot by Evan Gattis in the sixth — prevented the Dodgers from extending their bid for a hit to extra innings.

On his 120th pitch, Fiers got his fifth consecutive strikeout to end the eighth inning. Fiers’ previous career high for pitches in a game was 113.

In the ninth, Jimmy Rollins hit Fiers’ 126th pitch to the warning track in right field for the Dodgers’ loudest out of the night. Utley hit the 129th pitch for another fly to right. And on a 2-2 fastball that was his 134th pitch, Turner swung and missed.

In their past two games, the Dodgers are 2 for 56 with a double, homer and five walks.

Entering tonight, Fiers had allowed 134 hits in 135 innings in 2015 with Milwaukee and Houston. The Astros acquired him on July 30.

The last time the Dodgers were no-hit in Houston, by Nolan Ryan on September 26, 1981, they won a World Series a month later.

Dodgers go from aggravated to elated to defeated

By Jon Weisman

On August 18, 2015

In Bullpen, Health/injuries, Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Some notes to pass along after a tough 5-4, 10-inning Dodger loss to the A’s tonight …

Clayton Kershaw lowered his ERA again, to 2.34, after allowing one run in seven innings and 116 pitches. It was a fiery night from Kershaw, who fired a baseball into the Dodger dugout (low enough not to harm anyone) after failing to make a play on an infield chopper to his right.
A.J. Ellis had a tiebreaking three-run home run in the eighth inning and four walks tonight, becoming the first Major Leaguer to do so since Jose Canseco in 1996 (noted by Bob Timmermann). Ellis also had his angry moment, jawing with home-plate umpire Tim Tichenor over a late timeout call.
Pedro Baez surrendered three runs and the lead in the bottom of the eighth. In the past month, opponents had a 0.68 ERA and 0.68 WHIP against Baez with a .200 on-base percentage.
Yimi Garcia pitched a perfect ninth inning, but allowed back-to-back doubles with none out in the 10th to end the game. Garcia had thrown 6 1/3 shutout innings this month, stranding two inherited runners, before those doubles.
Yasiel Puig left tonight’s game in the eighth inning with right hamstring tightness after beating out an infield single. As Ken Gurnick of MLB.com notes, it was a strained left hamstring that sidelined Puig earlier this season.
The Dodgers walked nine times in a loss for the first time since an April 7, 2010 defeat against the Pirates.
Ron Roenicke, Don Mattingly and Farhan Zaidi discussed Roenicke’s hiring as Dodger third-base coach, Gurnick reports.

Kershaw tantalizes with another no-hit bid in Dodger victory

By Jon Weisman

On August 12, 2015

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

About 15 months ago, I studied every single start of Clayton Kershaw’s career to see how close he had come to throwing his first no-hitter. In his first 192 career starts, including the postseason, Kershaw has taken a no-hitter past the sixth inning only once.

Even since his now-famous June 18, 2014 no-hitter, it’s still rarer than you think, though I won’t press the point with Dodger fans who might think it’s happening all the time.

In the past month alone, Kershaw retired the first 18 New York Mets he faced July 18, and tonight, he set down the first 16 Washington Nationals before Michael Taylor’s booming double to dead center in the sixth inning of what became a 3-0 Dodger victory.

Pitching most of the game with a one-run lead provided by Carl Crawford’s RBI single in the third inning (scoring Joc Pederson), Kershaw had to approach his best work, and he did. He had the help of Kiké Hernandez, who made multiple sprawling plays while spot-starting at shortstop — including one that might have prevented Taylor from scoring in the sixth.

Kershaw allowed two more hits, but his closest call after that was Wilson Ramos’ deep fly that Crawford hauled in near the wall in left field. He left after eight innings, having walked none while striking out eight (becoming the first Dodger pitcher with six straight 200-strikeout seasons since Sandy Koufax).

One start after his 37-inning scoreless streak ended at Pittsburgh, Kershaw resumed the surge that has lowered his ERA from 4.32 on May 21 to 2.39 tonight.

In 103 2/3 innings over that stretch, Kershaw has a 1.30 ERA with 132 strikeouts against 80 baserunners. In his past 1,000 innings, Kershaw’s ERA is 2.12.

The Dodgers added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth when, after Pederson was hit by a pitch, pinch-hitter Andre Ethier doubled to the right-field corner. Both players scored when Anthony Rendon’s relay throw inexplicably sailed into the stands, though Crawford followed with his third hit of the night anyway.

Kenley Jansen struck out Bryce Harper to end the game, which at 2:20 was the third-shortest nine-inning game of the Dodger season. Washington was held scoreless for the final 19 innings of this series.

Kershaw bruised, beaten but not bowed

By Jon Weisman

On August 8, 2015

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Clayton Kershaw had pitched 37 straight shutout innings, the last 25 of them against the Nationals, Mets and Angels — teams that are a combined 21 games above .500. Strength of schedule has not been an issue for Kershaw.

But Kershaw, by his own admission, wasn’t sharp in the Dodgers’ 5-4, 10-inning loss Friday to Pittsburgh. He allowed four runs (most since May 21) on 12 baserunners (most since May 10) in six innings (fewest since June 17) while striking out five (tying a season low).

“It was a tough one,” Kershaw said, according to Bill Plunkett of the Register. “I struggled all the way through pretty much. I didn’t have good stuff. I was getting to two strikes, wasn’t putting anyone away.”

There were unforced errors: a first-pitch home run by Gregory Polanco, a bases-loaded walk to Chris Stewart (Kershaw’s first since allowing one to Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright on July 24, 2012). But it’s not as if fate made the game easy on him. Kershaw was hit by baseballs three times — twice on defense, once while batting.

Greinke’s ‘Believe It or Not’ game yields an even more unbelievable finish

By Jon Weisman

On August 6, 2015

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

How weird was Zack Greinke’s day?

His third-inning home run in the Dodgers’ 10-8 victory at Philadelphia ranked about fifth on the list of today’s most unlikely events.

Earning top billing among Greinke’s exploits were …

A throwing error on the first batter of the game — Greinke’s third as a Dodger and sixth of his MLB career.
Five runs allowed to the first five batters — raising Greinke’s 2015 ERA from 1.41 to 1.72.
A bases-loaded single by Ryan Howard — the first bases-loaded hit Greinke had allowed all season, and only the fourth in three seasons as a Dodger.
Three runs scored — making Greinke the first Dodger pitcher to score thrice in a game since Claude Osteen in 1970.

And then, there was the final play of the game … but we’ll get to that.

When the Dodgers took a 3-0 lead after two were out in the top of the first inning, you could be excused for thinking the game was all but over. It had been 10 starts since Greinke last allowed three runs in a game, and only on June 2 at Colorado had he exceeded that amount.

But after fielding Cesar Hernandez’s tapper in front of the plate, Greinke threw wildly to first base — and seemed discombobulated through Howard’s two-run single and Dominic Brown’s three-run homer.

Greinke retired the next three batters, then vented some aggression by leading off the second inning with the first of his three hits and six total bases (tying July 8, 2013 for his career best). Greinke would come around to score on an Adrian Gonzalez’s three-run homer that put the Dodgers ahead to stay.

It would be Greinke’s own blast to left field, the fifth homer of his career, that would give the Dodgers’ their seventh run and help ensure he left the game with the lead.

Zack Greinke is the first Dodgers pitcher to go 3-3 or better with a home run since Leo Dickerman in 1923.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 6, 2015

Greinke now has a .231 on-base percentage and .300 slugging percentage this season. San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner, who has three homers this year, is at .265/.426.

After Brown’s homer, Greinke retired 18 of his remaining 22 batters, with one run scoring. Greinke has allowed 30 runs all season, and 20 percent of them were scored today.

Every Dodger starter had a hit in this game, with Gonzalez, Howie Kendrick, Yasmani Grandal, Andre Ethier and Alberto Callaspo reaching base twice.

J.P. Howell and Juan Nicasio combined for two shutout innings. However, the Phillies scored two runs in the ninth, charged to Joel Peralta, meaning that the Dodger bullpen has allowed runs in seven straight games and 10 of its past 11.

Brown came to the plate as the winning run with one out. He ripped a liner down the line that Gonzalez dived to catch with his body on first base, to double off Howard and end the game.

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Pitch imperfect a sour note for Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On August 4, 2015

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Alex Wood had a solid Dodger debut for six innings, with eight strikeouts (tying a season high), no walks and one run allowed, when things went in the wrong direction — figuratively with a single by Carlos Ruiz (followed by an intentional walk to Cesar Hernandez), then literally with a still-not-sure-how-that-happened, slipped-pitch balk.

As it turned out, the balk actually had no direct effect on the game’s outcome, but the Dodgers never rediscovered their magnetic north.

Wood left the game after another walk, and reliever Joel Peralta served up a grand slam to Maikel Franco that lifted the Phillies to a 6-2 victory over the Dodgers.

Los Angeles relievers have allowed runs in five straight games and eight of their past nine, though this was only the second of those nine games that led directly to a loss.

Offensively, the Dodgers had 16 baserunners in the game, but it was one of those nights when they couldn’t cash them in. Los Angeles is third in the National League this season in OPS with men on and with runners in scoring position.

Besides Wood’s first six innings, silver linings for the Dodgers included Joc Pederson’s three walks (his first of any kind since July 18) and Jimmy Rollins’ two hits, maintaining his on-base percentage in his past 10 games at .400.

Rollins also received a lovely bit of brotherly love while stepping in for his first at-bat as a visiting player in Philadelphia after 14 seasons there.

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Kershaw’s streak is a prime 37

By Jon Weisman

On August 1, 2015

In Postgame

.@ClaytonKersh22 is red hot, and the Angels had no answer. WATCH: http://t.co/wNYi2WeHVY @Headshoulders #Whiff pic.twitter.com/UvZeMn5CF4

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 2, 2015

By Jon Weisman

Well, you figured an MVP was going to do well today.

In the first-ever regular-season meeting between reigning Most Valuable Players, pitcher vs. hitter, Clayton Kershaw got the best of Mike Trout, and rolled right on in his latest march toward history.

Setting the tone with a Trout-freezing curveball in the first inning for strike three, then allowing only three baserunners in his eight shutout innings during today’s 3-1 victory over the Angels, Kershaw has extended his current scoreless-innings streak to 37, which is …

four innings shy of his career high
8 2/3 innings shy of Zack Greinke’s Dodger season high
22 innings shy of Orel Hershiser’s Major League record.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kershaw is the first pitcher with two single-season scoreless streaks of at least 37 innings since Luis Tiant in 1968 and 1972.

Opponents are hitting .135/.148/.151 during the streak, for an OPS of .299.

Though he did walk his first batter since before the streak began (striking out 46 in between), Kershaw has thrown nine straight innings without a runner getting past first base and 25 straight without a runner getting past second base.

Only eight of the 128 batters Kershaw has faced during the streak have reached scoring position. Only two of 128 have reached third base.

The big lefty’s 2015 ERA is down to 2.37, which marks the first time this season that it is below his career ERA (now 2.47). In 12 starts since May 26, Kershaw has a 1.10 ERA with 119 strikeouts and only 12 walks in 89 2/3 innings, averaging 7.5 innings per start.

Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Category: Postgame (Page 12 of 21)

Alex Wood rounding into form for Dodgers

Dodgers ride up to the 7½ floor

*Not gonna get into this right now …

Leapin’ legends: Kershaw has most strikeouts in a season since Koufax

New folk hero Jose Peraza lifts Greinke, Dodgers

No-no, no-no — Dodgers no-hit again

Clayton Kershaw shines as Dodgers win third straight ‘Vin Scully Returns’ game

Singular Greinke lifts double-playing Dodgers

Kershaw, Ellis thwarted for second time on roadtrip

Fiers in the hole: Dodgers no-hit in Houston

Dodgers go from aggravated to elated to defeated

Kershaw tantalizes with another no-hit bid in Dodger victory

Kershaw bruised, beaten but not bowed

Greinke’s ‘Believe It or Not’ game yields an even more unbelievable finish

Pitch imperfect a sour note for Dodgers

Kershaw’s streak is a prime 37

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