The big series for this weekend in Major League Baseball was defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers against their hopeful NL West rival San Diego Padres. Friday night’s game was crazy and late. On Saturday we were treated to a duel between Bait Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish. There were also fireworks over a controversial call. The first run scored in the 2-0 Dodgers victory was absurd, as was the final. We will achieve it all.
That was all that went on to play until the final game.
Darvish throws four innings that are not beaten. Kershaw fits him zero for zero in the run column. With two out in the fourth innings, Kershaw apparently beat Jurickson Profar. However, Profar’s bat is a bit half-hearted swing cut the glove of Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes. The referee finally ruled the interference of the catcher.
Kershaw and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought their case to the crew. Meanwhile, Kershaw finally turned around and shouted something about fog to Profar, when he responded with some pleasant answers.
The footage of the exchange:
Kershaw finally got out of the innings unharmed.
The top of the fifth was pretty funky in itself. After Darvish extended his perfect match offer to 4 2/3 overs, he beat Zach McKinstry with a pitch. Luke Raley followed with a single to center for the Dodgers’ first hit. Barnes took a turn and the two jugs strung each other in the square. Kershaw took an eight-tone step to record the first run of the game. He scrapped three spots and then made two close-range shots to break the pointless tie.
It was almost the only run recorded. Justin Turner’s solo recording in the top of the ninth gave the Dodgers assurance.
Both Kershaw and Darvish were generally excellent, but even while having a recording, they both faced difficult setups that made them work incredibly hard. As such, Kershaw was completed after 98 lanes in six overs and Darvish was done after, coincidentally, 98 lanes through seven.
The last lines from the duel …
Kershaw: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K
Darvish: 7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K
Darvish had one bad turn and it wasn’t even that bad. Slug parties can be a lot of fun – because who does not like home runs? – but a duel like this is just a beautiful baseball. Aside from Darvish’s fifth scare and a brief scare for Kershaw in the sixth, the two only sharpened the opposition while in full control.
Keep in mind the marathon race of Friday night and the bullpens were not very well rested. The Dodgers got good work from Jimmy Nelson, Blake Trains and Victor Gonzalez to close it out. Of course, a Tommy Pham soccer tournament with two out and runners-up in second and third place would have tied the game, but Mookie Betts in the center took the plunge. Rare! Look at that.
Holy smoke, it’s as close as it can get. Slow-motion repetitions showed the ball on the heel of Betts’ glove, avoiding contact with the grass by something like a millimeter. Ridiculous.
The Dodgers have now won 13 of 14 games since an odd loss on opening day, with their only loss since getting extra innings. They already have a 4 1/2 game lead in the NL West.