But his third attempt to progress back to a major league mound was successful, as Kershaw looked sharp over 34 pitches in a rehab start at Class A Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) on Saturday.
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A sold-out crowd saw Kershaw pitch three excellent innings for the Quakes against Modesto.
So Dodgers manager Dave Roberts started Austin Barnes at catcher the battery mate that was by De Leon’s side during his dominant season in Triple-A Oklahoma City this year.
“The good thing about getting into a game is that you’re thinking about getting a hitter out as opposed to how you feel”, Kershaw said. He was scheduled to pitch five innings but threw 61 pitches in just two innings while giving up six runs on nine hits and a walk.
Friedrich allowed four runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings of his first start since August 23. Corey Seager leads Los Angeles with 154 hits, Adrian Gonzalez has 76 RBI and Justin Turner has 24 home runs. The Los Angeles Dodgers offense has cooled off as of late, and they’ve lost four of their last six games when scoring three or less runs.
Clayton Kershaw, whose aversion to the disabled list is as deep-seated as anyone in baseball, was asked what he learned from the experience of sitting out these last two months because of a herniated disk in his lower back. But with expanded September rosters affording teams deeper bullpens, the Dodgers can more easily cover shorter stints from baseball’s best pitcher.
“The nine strikeouts for De Leon, the 15th pitcher “ and fifth rookie “ to start for the Dodgers this season, were the second-most by a Dodgers pitcher in his major league debut behind Pedro Astacio (1992) and Kaz Ishii (2002), who each struck out 10.
Cincinnati used four walks by Jerome Williams to score five times in the eighth, capped by Tucker Barnhart’s bases-loaded double. He watched as four other rookies were brought up, including Julio Urias who proved reliable in the Dodgers’ fight to protect their slim division lead over San Francisco.
“Fastball and slider were pretty decent”, Kershaw said, via MLB.com.
Roberts said the blister on Anderson’s index finger resurfaced during the outing and his status will be re-assessed. His curveball is one of the most effective pitches in the game. He posted a 2.55 ERA through three starts with five runs, five walks, and 12 strikeouts scattered over 17 2/3 innings. The team said that Shoemaker suffered a laceration to the right side of his head.
Kenta Maeda, Ross Stripling and Brock Stewart will start the three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning Monday.
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Mets 3, Nationals 1: Robert Gsellman (2-1) pitched out of trouble for six innings, and NY moved within one game of St. Louis for the final N.L. playoff berth.
