Los Angeles Dodgers pitching great Clayton Kershaw savored his last regular-season start at Dodger Stadium on Friday, basking in an outpouring of affection — and a Dodgers win.
“It was such a special night, such a special night,” Kershaw said. “I can’t even put into words how special tonight was to me.”
One day after announcing that he would retire after his 18th Major League Baseball campaign — all of them with the Dodgers — Kershaw pitched four and one-third innings in a 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants that saw the Dodgers secure a post-season berth.
He wasn’t at his sharpest, but he did enough to keep the Dodgers in touch before Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts delivered back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to put Los Angeles in control.
It was an important win for the World Series champion Dodgers, who are still trying to lock up the National League West division title.
But the night was all about Kershaw.
San Francisco’s Heliot Ramos dampened the celebratory mood a little, belting a lead-off home run off Kershaw’s third pitch of the night.
But after Kershaw struck out Rafael Devers for the first out of the fifth inning and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave the signal that Kershaw’s night was done the cheers rained down again.
Teammates hugged him as Roberts trotted out to offer an embrace of his own on the mound.
Kershaw waved and tipped his cap to fans as he made his way to the dugout for more hugs, returning to the field for a final curtain call.
“I can’t even put into words how special this night was to me,” said Kershaw, who first pitched at Dodger Stadium as a 20-year-old in 2008.
Since then he has piled up accolades and suffered through agonizing playoff disappointment.
“This crowd, this group of fans, has been with me from the very beginning,” he said.
Roberts said he thought Kershaw had “expended a lot of energy” in his emotional retirement reveal.
“(He) wasn’t his best, but like he does, he just finds ways to compete, get outs and put us in a position to win a ballgame,” Roberts said.
Kershaw departed with San Francisco up 2-1 having thrown 91 pitches, 56 of them for strikes, and giving up four hits with six strikeouts and four walks. “I felt a little bit of relief, just because it was so hard tonight,” Kershaw said. “I was battling, not throwing very many strikes, having a tough time getting the ball where I wanted to go.
“So to be able to get that last one there and walk off the mound like that was really, really special.” Kershaw had taken the mound to a massive ovation, his teammates hanging back so that he took the field alone. But the crowd was quickly silenced when Ramos lofted a high foul to the left corner off Kershaw’s first pitch. Two pitches later Ramos belted an 85 mph slider from Kershaw 431 feet over the centerfield wall for a home run that put the Giants up 1-0.
Kershaw pitched a hitless second inning and Miguel Rojas belted a game-tying homer in the bottom of the frame.
But San Francisco regained the lead in the third when Matt Chapman doubled to center field off Kershaw and scored on a base it by Wilmer Flores.
Kershaw had said he wanted to stay focused on the game amid the Dodgers’ playoff push.
“Thankfully I was a little less emotional tonight than yesterday,” said Kershaw, who could figure in the Dodgers playoff plans although likely not in a starting role. “Today was more about the game.”