Kershaw silences the snakes a second time
Prior to June 18, 2014, there was the thinking of not if Clayton Kershaw would throw a no-hitter but when he would throw a no-hitter.
And the thinking applies to a second.
On Tuesday, it would have been a tall task for Kershaw to earn no-hitter №2, as he took a high pitch count into the seventh inning on a warm Independence Day evening holding Arizona to zero hits to that point.
But on his 101st pitch, Arizona’s Chris Owings hit a ground ball that a shifted Logan Forsythe had to come some distance to snag on the right side of the diamond. The grounder drew Cody Bellinger too far from first base to return. Kershaw took the throw from Forsythe and was beat to the bag by a few steps.
No-hitter №2 will have to wait.
But for the second time in as many starts against the Diamondbacks — one of the top offenses in the game — Kershaw dominated.
He went seven shutout innings, allowed two hits, walked two and struck out 11 batters — guiding the Dodgers to a 4–3 win and extending their lead over Arizona in the National League West to 3 1/2 games.
“I think I made (Dave Roberts’) job a little easier giving up a hit. He didn’t have to worry about keeping me in or not,” Kershaw said. “No-hitters, after the seventh inning you start thinking about it. Six outs is a lot to get in of itself. After six is not on the forefront of my mind yet.”
Kershaw couples this outing with his April 14 start against Arizona when he took a one-hitter into the eighth inning and ended with 8 1/3 innings, having allowed four hits and one earned run.
Arizona is third in the NL in runs, but has been dominated by the Dodger ace.
“Anytime you’re in the division, these guys see you a lot, so you have to continually make pitches,” Kershaw said. “There are no secrets anymore. We’ve seen these guys a lot, just like they’ve seen us, and it will continue to be that way. Not to mention they have a lot of good hitters on their team — one of the top three teams in the National League right now. It really doesn’t change anything as far as what I’m trying to do, but it makes the execution that much more important for sure”
Against the NL West, Kershaw has a 1.78 ERA in 11 starts this season and the Dodgers are 9–2 in those games.
In non-Kershaw games, the Dodgers are 13–15.
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Justin Turner singled off the top of the wall in left field in the first inning off Arizona starter Patrick Corbin, bring in the Dodgers’ first run.
Prior to the bottom of the third inning, former Dodger pitcher and current broadcaster Orel Hershiser got on the house mic and urged fans to vote for Turner in the All-Star Game 2017 Final Vote. Turner then led off the frame for the Dodgers and hit a solo home run to center field.
He was 2-for-4 in the game, raising his average to .384.
Grandal goes for three
Yasmani Grandal had his eighth three-hit game this season. He doubled in the second, knocked in a run with a single in the third and collected another RBI single in the eighth.
Jansen earns save 19
Kenley Jansen picked up his 19th save of the year, but it was an unusual outing for him.
He entered with two on and one out in the ninth and the Dodgers up 4–0, but he surrendered a three-run home run to Daniel Descalso. He then walked pinch-hitter Jake Lamb — his second walk of the season in 34 2/3 innings.
He struck out Chris Herrmann to end the game.
