Los Angeles – His teammates was in shock, their bitter rivals increased, division slipped, and in these circumstances, Clayton Kershaw – has clearly decreased but always as determined – has passed.
With the Los Angeles Dodgers who led a sequence of four consecutive defeats and the organization of a team from San Diego Padres who had won five consecutive games to compensate for 10 games in six weeks, Kershaw pulled six shot of a ball on Friday evening, passing through the tension of a key series to set the tone for a 3-2 victory at the Dodger stadium.
The West National League, a division that the dodgers led by nine games only six weeks earlier, is again on an equal. Padres and dodgers will play five other games against each other in the next nine days.
“We had the right guy on the mound tonight,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “I think we all know it.”
Kershaw made his debut with the rotation of the Dodgers in 2025 around mid-May, after having completely recovered knee surgeries and off-season, and helped stabilize a group that again found himself assailed by injuries. Its initial results were simply decent – an MPM of 3.62 in 12 departures, with 39 stick withdrawals and 18 steps in 59⅔ sleeves – but its availability was vital.
In recent weeks, while the rotation of the dodgers has stabilized, Kershaw has exploited in another level.
His three departures this month saw him do six heats while combining to reach only two points. Friday evening, the only damage against him was a solo Ramon Laureano circuit which flashed the post for lack of the left field. Kershaw presented a clearer cursor than usual and has only granted two other basics units while requiring only 76 locations to finish 18 withdrawals. Fifteen begins in his 37-year season, he has 7-2 with an MPM of 3.01.
“This is exactly what you are supposed to do,” said Kershaw about his best lately. “As a starter, you are supposed to shed well. And when it’s your turn, go up. And our rotation becomes healthier. We have a lot of guys who can very well throw the ball, so I just want to do my part.”
Friday started with the news that Max Muncy, the third daily basic player of the Dodgers and a critical bat in the middle of the command, would breastfeed an oblique tension which held him away for the coming weeks. Muncy joined Tommy Edman, Enrique Hernandez and Hyeseong Kim on the injured list, which prompted a recruit (Alex Freeland) and a companion (Buddy Kennedy) to fill. The enclai, on the other hand, was already down to six high -level bondoors, seriously limiting Roberts options to hold late.
Dodgers desperately needed six Kershaw heats. But they also needed the contributions of Teoscar Hernandez, who had been transporting an OPS of 0.673 since the beginning of July but provided a critical insurance path with a Homer of seventh. And they really needed the production of their enclosure, where five lifters combined to allow only one race in the last three sleeves.
With Roberts little willing to bring Kershaw back for another round, Ben Casparius managed to tackle in the middle of the padding range at the top of the seventh. The paadres then threatened to the eighth against Alex Vesia, loading the bases with a few spear strokes and a walk, then cutting their deficit on one on the fly bag of Luis Trouez. With two on, two withdrawals and Manny Machado since the day, Roberts turned to his best weapon, Blake Treinen, and watched her induce a pop-up of the end of the round on a single step.
Alexis Diaz, the former All-Star closer by the Reds of Cincinnati, and Jack Dreyer, the recruited left-hander who was a boon this season, closed him to the ninth.
“It was a high intensity match,” said Roberts. “It was certainly a little soaked internally, but I think I could see it with regard to the field. I could feel it. Our goal was passionate. They launched very well. I thought we had launched very well. It was just a well -played ball game.”
The last time the Dodgers and the Padres clashed was mid -June, in the middle of a section in which they played seven games in 11 days – on the heels of a NL division series held in the previous October. The Dodgers won five of these matches, including three of the four at Dodger Stadium. The latter series presented eight life by throws, half of which were dispersed to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Shohei Ohtani. The final saw the manager of Roberts Shove Padres, Mike Shildt, while the canoes and the arenas have emptied.
At this point, the Dodgers were five better games than the Padres and seemed ready to move to a title of 12th division in 13 years. The following two weeks only fortified this belief. Then, the Dodgers crossed one of their driest spells for years, losing 22 of the 31 games after July 3 – including the three of Stade Angel earlier this week. The lift enclosure was a waste, the offensive was incoherent and the paadres, raised by a series of commercial diadline acquisitions from their aggressive director general, mounted a summit.
During one night, at least, Kershaw and his teammates put an end to this.
“You just need one to start,” Kershaw said. “I hope it was that evening for us.”
