Dodgers move on without Kershaw

The first-place Dodgers might be without Clayton Kershaw, the best pitcher on the planet. But they might have the most underrated starter, too. And his name is Alex Wood. The lefty has been one of the best.

By Beth Harris LOS ANGELES » With Clayton Kershaw sidelined by injury, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in need of a dominant left-hander.

Baseball’s best team need look no farther than one locker past Kershaw’s in the clubhouse. Alex Wood has been doing his best impression of the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner for the last several weeks.

He won his first 10 decisions, the first Dodgers starter to do so since Don Newcombe in 1955, when the Brooklyn Dodgers won the first of the franchise’s six World Series championships.

“I’m trying my best to just stay in the moment and give our team a chance to win,” Wood said. “As long as I can do that, I feel like I’m accomplishing what I’m trying to accomplish and it’s been really good so far. It’s been fun.”

Wood has already replaced Kershaw once this season, taking his spot on the NL All-Star team after Kershaw was ineligible because he had pitched two days before the game. He’s ready to do it again as long as Kershaw is sidelined by a back injury.

Wood takes an 11-1 record and 2.17 ERA into Friday night’s start against the San Francisco Giants. He is coming off his lone bad outing of the season, a 12-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves last week in which he gave up a career-high nine runs (seven earned) on a season-high nine hits in 4 2/3 innings.

It was Wood’s first defeat since May 30, 2016.

At home, Wood is 12-3 with a 2.10 ERA in 24 career games (10 starts) at Dodger Stadium, where he has struck out 131 batters and walked 31.

Wood has enjoyed an up-close view of Kershaw’s work ethic and tenacity, traits the 26-year-old lefthander admires.

“It’s hard not to notice that even if you’re pretty blind to a lot of things,” Wood said. “He’s special and even to be mentioned in the same breath as him is pretty cool. He puts in the work, he expects his teammates to put in the work, and he makes you want to work harder.”