Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers) won his head-to-head matchup against Merrill Kelly (Arizona Diamondbacks). Tied for second on the Dodgers’ franchise wins list.
The Dodgers won the 2023 Major League Baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-1 on April 30 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Dodgers are in first place in the National League West with an 82-49 record, while Arizona is third with a 69-64 record.
Kelly played for the SK Wyverns (now the SSG Landers) from 2015 to 2018. She has been playing for Arizona since the 2019 season and has been a part of the KBO’s reverse export phenomenon.
The Dodgers’ offense got to Kelly early in the game, however. In the top of the first inning, Mookie Betts led off with a single. After Freddie Freeman flied out to left field, Will Smith singled. Kelly induced a fielder’s choice to Max Muncy to pick off Smith at second, but David Peralta followed with an RBI single and Jason Heyward followed with an RBI double.
The Dodgers added a run in the second. Leadoff hitter Chris Taylor led off with a walk and stole second. Miguel Rojas followed with an RBI single. In the third, Muncy doubled and Peralta followed with an RBI single. Heyward walked, but scored on Taylor’s double after James Outman singled.
Kelly worked his first three-hit shutout of the day in the fourth inning, but left the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth and gave up a sacrifice fly to Outman. He did not return to the mound until the bottom of the sixth. She finished with five innings, seven runs (seven earned), 12 hits, three walks and one strikeout.
Kershaw had a chip on his shoulder with the help of his offense. With two outs in the first inning, he struggled with his command and gave up singles to Tommy Pham and Christian Walker, but got Luerdes Gurriel Jr. to fly out to center field to get out of the jam.
Kershaw ran into his second trouble in the second inning. After getting Evan Longoria to ground out to third base, he gave up a single to Corbin Carroll and a walk to Nick Ahmed. But he got Gabriel Moreno to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Settling down, Kershaw retired the side in order in the third and fourth innings. He gave up a leadoff single to Carroll in the fifth, but struck out Ahmed and got Moreno to fly out to right field. Marte followed with a single and took second on a wild pitch, but Kershaw struck out Buddy Kennedy to end the inning.
Kershaw had thrown 79 pitches through five innings, with 42 strikes. In the sixth inning, the bullpen went to work. Kershaw’s final line for the game was five innings, one run (one earned), three hits (one home run), three walks and five strikeouts. The Dodgers then added two runs in the sixth inning to drive a wedge and did not allow another run. Kershaw earned his 12th win of the season.
This gives him 209 career wins. According to MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, “Kershaw moved into a tie for second place on the Dodgers’ franchise wins list with Don Drysdale. The record is held by Don Sutton with 233 wins.”
In four starts since returning from a shoulder injury, Kershaw is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA, 4 runs (4 earned), 6 hits, 15 strikeouts, and 0.88 WHIP (walks allowed per nine innings).안전놀이터
“After missing more than a month with a left shoulder injury, Kershaw is unlikely to be 100 percent,” said MLB.com, “but his effectiveness on the mound is effective. His performance will be crucial to the Dodgers’ chances of winning in October.”