Kershaw is special, if not perfect
His brush with history ends in seventh, but scoreless streak reaches 29 innings.
NEW YORK — From his station behind home plate, Yasmani Grandal glanced up at the scoreboard at Citi Field, expecting to see that the game was in the fourth inning.
It was already in the sixth.
Suddenly, it occurred to the Dodgers catcher that baseball history might be unfolding in front of him.
“I definitely thought we were going to see a perfect game tonight,” Grandal said.
Clayton Kershaw entertained the possibility too — “Right around the time he got a hit,” Kershaw later recalled with a chuckle.
Curtis Granderson singled to right field to start the bottom of the seventh inning, depriving Kershaw of what could have been the signature moment of an already-decorated career.
Kershaw settled for a three-hit shutout in a 3-0 victory over the New York Mets. He struck out 11 batters.
The performance Thursday night was crucial for the Dodgers, who learned Zack Greinke wouldn’t pitch for them the next day because he was back in Los Angeles for the birth of his first child.
With Greinke’s scoreless streak currently at 432⁄3 innings, Kershaw extended his own to 29 innings.
The shutout was the second for Kershaw in his last three starts. In the other start, he pitched eight innings.
“I’m trying to copy Zack, for sure,” Kershaw said. “I’m just trying not to lower the bar at all when I’m out there.”
Over this three-game stretch, Kershaw has struck out 11 or more batters in each start and walked none.
“Not too many people can do that, unless you’re Greinke,” Grandal said.
Kershaw was expected to dominate the Mets.
Their cleanup hitter, John Mayberry Jr., was batting .179 entering the game. Their No. 5 hitter, Eric Campbell, was batting .170.
Campbell nearly broke up the perfect game in the fifth inning on a pitch that bounced off Grandal. As Campbell charged down the first-base line, Grandal scrambled to the ball. He threw him out. Barely. For most of the night, Kershaw worked with a one-run lead that came courtesy of a third-inning home run by Jimmy Rollins. The run was the only one scored by the Dodgers in eighth innings against Mets starter Bartolo Colon.
The Dodgers scored twice in the ninth inning.
Kershaw said Colon might have helped him by allowing the game to proceed at a brisk tempo. Meanwhile, Grandal credited Colon for establishing an advantageous strike zone.
Colon was “just nicking the bottom of the zone and he was getting the strikes,” Grandal said. “So whenever Clayton went down there, he was getting the strikes too.”
Grandal also caught Kershaw the last time he pitched against the Mets, which was on July 3 in Los Angeles.
In Grandal’s eyes, Kershaw underwent a significant transformation between then and now.
Kershaw is now commanding his fastball better, which has allowed him to get into more favorable counts. As a result, he is frequently forcing hitters to chase pitches out of the zone.
Granderson’s single in the seventh inning was followed by a one-out single by Wilmer Flores. With the Dodgers leading by only 1-0, the Mets had a runner in scoring position.
“You’ve got to kind of refocus really fast,” Kershaw said.
He did, striking out Mayberry and forcing Campbell to ground out.
Though Kershaw said he didn’t view Greinke as a rival, Grandal and Manager Don Mattingly remained convinced the two pitchers push each other.
Grandal recalled a conversation with Greinke in spring training a day after they played an exhibition game in San Antonio.
“Kershaw better watch out because I’m coming after him,” Grandal recalled Greinke telling him.
“It’s one of those things where they give each other confidence,” Grandal said. “Somebody has a good outing, the other guy wants to come out and have an even better outing. That’s the one thing I like about them. They both kind of compete.”
Up next
Ian Thomas (0-1, 5.23 earned-run average) will face the Mets and Jon Niese (5-8, 3.36) at Citi Field on Friday at 4 p.m. PDT. TV: SportsNet LA. Radio: 570, 1020.