It must be pretty special to be disappointed with a 14-strikeout pitching performance, but that’s where Jose Fernandez finds himself, especially when he is at Marlins Park, where he is almost unbeatable.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back their ace with open arms as Clayton Kershaw took the mound Friday for the first time in 75 days.
Indians 5, Twins 4 • Mike Napoli hit his 32nd homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth inning, to break a 4-4 tie and help Cleveland win on the road.
“It seems like that’s all I do lately”. Fernandez was credited with the win, while Kershaw took the loss. There have been 12 games in the majors this season when a pitcher has struck out 14 or more, and no one else has more than one.
These two teams are not just vying for the AL East title; a slight stumble could knock them out of the crowded AL wild-card picture.
Hill, who did not start a single game for five years – 2010 to 2014 – is one win away from a career high in victories.
The baseball world watched Friday night as Clayton Kershaw made his first start since recovering from a herniated disc that had sidelined him since June 26. “Out since late June with a lower-back injury, the three-time Cy Young Award victor gave up two runs on five hits over three innings in the Dodgers” 4-1 loss to the?
“I think the sharpness with the slider wasn’t there”, Roberts said of Kershaw, who struck out five. It was just great to see him out there.
“The No. 1 thing Clayton got out of this was feeling pretty well. We didn’t expect him to be in midseason form”.
Kershaw said afterward that he had no doubt he would reach the 100-pitch mark in the four regular-season starts he has remaining.
Although Kershaw got out of both innings with no further damage, the extra work ran up his pitch count.
Trea Turner may not have as many home runs as David Ortiz, but he’s hitting them just as far. Kershaw had to duck to avoid getting hit. Fernandez pitched an absolute gem, as he fanned 14 batters for the fifth time this season, while allowing zero runs and three hits in seven innings pitched.
All five were stranded as the Dodgers went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position against Fernandez. “He also pitched inside more”. Manager Don Mattingly decided he had enough of Rodney, as he pulled him, and called on A.J. But he did say he was pleased with how his hitters attacked Kershaw.
“It’s not spring training for anybody else so it’s not for me, either”, Kershaw said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of making him pitch”.
In the second, Kershaw gave up a line-drive double to Jeff Francoeur, followed by a hard-hit RBI single by Chris Johnson.
Miami made it 2-0 in the second. After a walk to Ozuna loaded the bases, Miami scored when Ichiro Suzuki was hit by a pitch. He was Miami’s center fielder until he injured his wrist August 31 while making a diving catch against the New York Mets.
“A little bit of it, you have to take the long view and understand this was a win for him and for us, and we will continue to build him up and look toward that [next] start in NY”, manager Dave Roberts said. Most of Mattingly’s winning months were while he was running this weekend’s opponent, the Dodgers. Seager is a favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year. Dodgers C Yasmani Grandal has a career-high 25 homers.
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Each night in the 2016 baseball season, we’ll run down the top news, facts and highlights from action around Major League Baseball.
