April 19, 2017
The Dodgers encountered a critical early season matchup with the Rockies on Wednesday night at the Ravine, and came away with an important 4-2 victory behind ace Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw went 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, while striking out 10. He improved to a 3-1 on the season, but his 97 pitch effort was not as typical as the Dodgers usually get from their ace. It still required the use of three relievers to secure the win. That included Luis Avilan, Sergio Romo, and Kenley Jansen, who earned his 4th save of the season.
The Dodgers started the night 3 full games behind Colorado in the NL West. A loss would have been a big set back, even in this early in the season. Skipper Dave Roberts acknowledged the importance of the win.
“April 19th , you don’t want to say you’re in a must-win mode, but I do believe, when your ace takes the mound it’s a must-win game,” he said.
Kershaw’s start was anything but smooth in the 1st inning. He walked leadoff man Charlie Blackmon, then gave up back-to-back singles to DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado, so the Rockies had the bases loaded with nobody out. However, Kershaw limited the damage by striking out two of the next three batters, while giving up a sacrifice fly in between.
Scott Van Slyke tied the game in the Dodger half of the 2nd inning, hitting a solo homer to center field. It was his first home run of the year.
The Dodgers would tack on three more in the 5th inning. Kike Hernandez hit an RBI double to left, scoring Chris Taylor. Corey Seager followed with RBI single to right, scoring Kershaw. Two batters later, Adrian Gonzales recorded an RBI fielders choice, which made it 4-1 after Hernandez crossed the plate.
The Rockies got one back in the 6th inning on an RBI single from Stephen Cardullo. Kershaw shut down Colorado after that. Avilan, Romo, and Jansen combined to give up just 1 hit over the remaining three innings.
The Dodgers improved to 8-8 on the season. They are 3-1 when Clayton Kershaw starts, and 5-7 when anybody else starts.
LA will now travel to Arizona to open a 3-game series with the Diamondbacks on Friday night. Kenta Maeda (1-1) will get the start for the Dodgers, while the D’Backs go with Taijuan Walker (2-1).