This story was originally published by Dead Spin
The home fans are expected to be in full roar Thursday afternoon when Los Angeles left-hander Clayton Kershaw makes his 2024 debut as the Dodgers complete a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
Kershaw missed the opening four months of the campaign after offseason shoulder surgery, the procedure addressing an injury that affected him throughout 2023. Despite the discomfort, and with a noticeable decline in velocity, Kershaw amassed a 13-5 record and a 2.46 ERA in 24 starts last year.
It all caught up to him in the opening game of the National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, when Kershaw gave up six runs and didn’t make it out of the first inning. The Diamondbacks used the momentum to earn a three-game sweep.
Not willing to let his storied Dodgers career end on a sour note, Kershaw signed a one-year deal to return to Los Angeles for his 17th season at age 36.
“With Clayton, he is on tilt in the sense that he is just overjoyed to get to participate again,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think it’s going to be emotional for him, I really do, to just get back to playing.
“I’ll keep an eye on him. I might have a little conversation (with him), but he’s been through it so many times. I think we all just really want him to pitch well.”
Kershaw’s 59 outings and 57 starts against San Francisco are his most against any team. He is 26-16 against the Giants in his career with a 2.01 ERA and has 402 strikeouts in 393 1/3 innings.
The Dodgers saw their five-game winning streak end on Wednesday with an 8-3 loss against the Giants. Matt Chapman homered and drove in two runs for San Francisco, while Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski also drove in a pair of runs.
Los Angeles did not have a hit in five innings against Giants left-hander Robbie Ray, who was making his first start in 16 months. Chris Taylor recorded the Dodgers’ first hit with two outs in the seventh inning but left the game with a groin injury.
The Giants will give the ball on Thursday to right-hander Logan Webb (7-8, 3.59), who was moved up in the rotation this week. In three starts against the Dodgers this season, Webb is 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA.
Webb is 4-6 with a 3.92 ERA in 15 career starts vs. Los Angeles.
San Francisco rookie Tyler Fitzgerald saw his five-game homer streak come to an end Wednesday, but he still had a double and scored the Giants’ go-ahead run in the fourth inning. Following Ray, four Giants relievers held the Dodgers to two runs on five hits over four innings.
“It’s the name on the back that takes the mound for a game and you just gain confidence from,” Melvin said about Ray leading the way Wednesday. “We’ve been waiting for this for a while, and I know he was pretty pumped up about being in there.”
Giants rookie left-hander Erik Miller struck out Shohei Ohtani again Wednesday, giving him five strikeouts against the Dodgers’ star in five career at-bats.
–Field Level Media
