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After retiring his 14th consecutive Reds batter for the final out of the fifth on Tuesday night, Clayton Kershaw strode off the mound and back to the home dugout. He had thrown only 72 pitches, but as the Dodgers batted in the bottom half of the inning, Edgardo Henriquez warmed up in the bullpen. Kershaw sat on the dugout bench until the top of the sixth, when the bullpen gate opened and Henriquez jogged out to the mound. The veteran southpaw's night was officially over. "I think it was pretty evident that it wasn't going to be a long night for me," Kershaw said. "Doc recognized that and made the right call, for sure." Despite striking out six without walking a batter across five innings of one-run ball, Kershaw said after his outing that he knew from the beginning that he was not working with his best stuff. He was able to recalibrate and dominate, nonetheless. |
Given how Kershaw felt about his stuff, and the fact that he was pitching on regular rest rather than the five days he's had in between most of his starts this year, going to the 'pen after five innings made perfect sense to manager Dave Roberts. In years past, that decision may not have gone over well. But part of Kershaw's evolution in the later seasons of his career has been recognizing his limits without letting them hold him back. "I think that Father Time gets everyone, and I think that he's smart enough to understand how many bullets he has. And you want to be good," Roberts said. "And so I think that he and I have a great relationship. We understand what's needed of him, and when to push him, when it's time to kind of pull the plug and get him ready for the next one." The Dodgers' mindful approach to Kershaw's workload appears to be paying off. He put together a stellar month of August, going a perfect 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA (six earned runs in 28 2/3 innings). It marked Kershaw's first personal five-game winning streak in a single season since the end of 2022. |
Across those five August starts, Kershaw threw 395 pitches. Since pitch counts began being tracked in 1988, he is the only Major League starter with a five-game winning streak in a calendar month on less than 400 pitches, according to OptaSTATS. "It was a good August," Kershaw said. "Physically, everything feels good. I think everything changes from start to start sometimes. But overall it was great. The team got a lot of wins, which was great. Fun to be a part of it this time of year." Led by Kershaw, it has been a strong overall month for the rotation. Entering Friday, Dodgers starters combined to post a 3.28 ERA, the third-best mark in the Majors behind the Cubs and Red Sox. |
With three games remaining in August, the rotation's 137 innings are already a season high for the unit in a full month. Heading into this weekend, Dodgers starters have pitched 55 2/3 innings more than the relievers. Previously, the largest differential between the rotation and bullpen was 22 2/3 innings in May. With Shohei Ohtani stretched out to five innings -- where he's tentatively capped for the time being -- the Dodgers' six-man rotation is finally more or less the group they envisioned coming into the season. After a first half that saw injuries to several key arms, starting pitching has become a bona fide strength for L.A. -- just in time for the stretch run. "It's been a couple, two, three years since we've had this run of health from the starters, and certainly the performance," Roberts said recently. "And so we kind of had to weather that early on to get guys back. So they've performed. They've been great. And obviously, we value those guys. And so it's just made life a lot easier for all of us." |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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The 2026 MLB schedule is here. Here are some of the highlights: • After opening the regular season abroad in 2024 and '25, the Dodgers will enjoy a stateside Opening Day next year, hosting the D-backs from March 26-28. • Coming out of the All-Star break, the Dodgers take a nine-game trip to the East Coast against the Yankees, Phillies and Mets. • The final nine games come against divisional opponents, with the Dodgers hosting the Giants and Padres before ending the regular season in San Francisco. |
Back in Spring Training, Roberts described the Dodgers as the "epicenter, globally, for baseball." This week, their home ballpark was a hot spot for pop culture in a broader sense. On Monday, Kim Taehyung, best known by his stage name V as one of the members of K-pop band BTS, was arguably one of the main attractions at Dodger Stadium. |
V met up with Ohtani when he arrived at the ballpark, and later delivered an impressive first pitch to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that V's throw was on point -- he got some tips from Tyler Glasnow. One Dodger who counts himself as a V fan was absent, though. Hyeseong Kim has been away from the team while on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City, but he still got to be part of the action from afar. |
• From colleague Mark Sheldon, Gavin Lux received his World Series ring while in town with the Reds this week. More >> • MLB celebrates Jackie Robinson Day every April 15, but 80 years ago Thursday -- when Branch Rickey expressed the intent to have Robinson join the Dodgers' organization -- is nearly as significant an anniversary when it comes to baseball's integration. More >> |
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