LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw made his season debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, striking out six and allowing two runs and six hits in his return from offseason shoulder surgery.
With his return to the lineup against the San Francisco Giants, Kershaw became the only pitcher to play for the Dodgers in at least 17 seasons and ended his longest absence from the big leagues.
The 36-year-old left-hander worked four innings, walking two and throwing 47 of his 72 pitches for strikes. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner exited the game with the Dodgers leading the Giants 3-2. He didn’t figure in the decision because he didn’t pitch five innings.
Before taking the mound, Kershaw was greeted with high-fives in the dugout from teammates and got a hug from Kike Hernandez. As he made his way to the mound, “We are Young” was playing in the stadium.
Kershaw retired the first two batters of the game, then allowed a double to Heliot Ramos and walked Matt Chapman. He struck out Patrick Bailey to end a scoreless inning. He allowed a single to Mike Yastrzemski in a scoreless second.
Kershaw ran into a bit of trouble in the third, allowing four consecutive hits, including a run-scoring triple by Tyler Fitzgerald that caromed off the left-field wall, eventually tracked down by Teoscar Hernandez. Heliot Ramos knocked in another run with an infield single before Kershaw Patrick Bailey, David Villar and Thairo Estrada to end the inning. Kershaw used a 73-mph curveball and 88-mph slider to get the final two outs of the frame.
Kershaw completed his outing with a pair of pop outs sandwiched around a walk and struck out Yastrzemski to end his day.
In he bottom half of the inning, Kershaw celebrated his teammates as the Dodgers scored two runs and he shared a high-five with Shohei Ohtani after the star’s double.
In his return, Kershaw wore cleats designed by his four children, who surprised him with the gift. A video was posted on the pitcher’s Instagram account and showed an emotional Kershaw wiping away tears. Kershaw’s wife, Ellen, and children watched from the stands. Ellen also wiped away tears.
Before the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts figured the day would be an emotional one for Kershaw.
“He’s on tilt in the sense he’s just so overjoyed to get to participate again,” Roberts said. “I think it’s going to be emotional for him, I really do, to just get back to playing.”
Kershaw made three minor league rehab starts, but was shut down for a week after his first appearance on June 19 because of lingering soreness. Kershaw went four innings and threw 67 pitches (49 strikes) in his last rehab outing Friday for Triple-A Oklahoma City, allowing three runs and six hits with two strikeouts and no walks.
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