Kershaw controls the mound in win over Cubs
LOS ANGELES >> A new provision in the Collective Bargaining Agreement allowed MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to add Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera to the All-Star rosters — a lifetime achievement award for two future Hall of Famers.
Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, resides at the crossroads of sentiment and merit as Dodger Stadium prepares to host an AllStar Game for the first time since 1980.
Kershaw has made it clear he wants nothing he hasn't earned and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts echoed that, saying Kershaw would never want to be given the All-Star assignment as “a handout.”
But isn't the All-Star Game all about the moments?
And what a moment it would be if the Dodgers' own future Hall of Famer were to throw the first pitch in that game on the mound he has owned on so many days and nights over the past 15 seasons.
Making his last home start before the All-Star Game, Kershaw held the Chicago Cubs to one earned run on five hits over a season-high 7 2/3 innings and the Dodgers came from behind to beat the Cubs for the second night in a row, winning 4-2 Saturday night.
The win was the Dodgers' sixth in a row and 10th in their past 11 games — and Kershaw's 101st in 199 regular-season starts at Dodger Stadium.
A back injury took a chunk out of his first half. But Kershaw lowered his ERA to 2.40 Saturday (fifth among NL starters with at least 60 innings this season), the ninth time in his 11 starts he has allowed two runs or fewer.
One of his two duds came at Coors Field two starts ago. Since then, Kershaw has allowed two runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out 18 in 14 2/3 innings against the Padres and Cubs.
Kershaw's slider was missing in action at altitude. He got just three swings-and-misses on it during his four innings against the Rockies. In the two starts against the Padres and Cubs, Kershaw reclaimed his slider, getting 29 swings-and-misses on it including 15 Saturday.
Thanks to a double-play ball following Seiya Suzuki's leadoff single in the second inning, Kershaw faced the minimum 12 batters through the first four innings against the Cubs.
They got to him for a run in the fifth when Trea Turner couldn't field a broken-bat hit by Suzuki and Nico Hoerner followed with a ground-rule double to right field. Yan Gomes drove Suzuki in with a sacrifice fly.
The Dodgers got nothing against Cubs starter Marcus Stroman who was limited to four innings in his first start back from the Injured List. They did tie the game in the bottom of the sixth on Turner's double (breaking a 1-for-17 slide) and a two-out RBI single by Will Smith.
The Cubs regained the lead with an unearned run off Kershaw in the seventh but that disappeared with a three-run burst in the bottom of the inning.
Jake Lamb led off with his second home run in as many nights and Freddie Freeman finished it off with a two-out, two-run single. Freeman is batting .344 (11 for 32) with two outs and runners in scoring position this year.