Clayton Kershaw exited his final regular-season start early Friday night in Los Angeles after experiencing left forearm discomfort, according to the Dodgers.
The lefty departed the game with two outs in the second inning after throwing 42 pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers. Kershaw was making his fourth start since returning from a more-than-two-month absence due to inflammation in his pitching elbow.
The Dodgers went on to win 8-6 to stay within striking distance of the San Francisco Giants for the NL West crown.
A pending free agent on a Dodgers team that could potentially end its season in Wednesday’s National League Wild Card Game, Kershaw received a rousing ovation from the Dodger Stadium crowd on his walk back to the dugout.
He held on to the baseball rather than hand it off to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts when walking off the mound.
Kershaw, 33, allowed the same number of hits as he recorded outs (five) and was charged with three earned runs, allowing five batted balls that traveled faster than 95 mph. It marked the first time in any game in the Statcast era (since 2015) that at least half the batters Kershaw faced had a hard-hit ball against him.
His 2021 regular season ends with a 3.55 ERA in 121⅔ innings. The question is what, if anything, he can provide in the postseason.
The Dodgers are two games behind the Giants in the NL West with two games left to play. If they miss out on their ninth consecutive division title, they’ll host the St. Louis Cardinals next week. Max Scherzer would be set to start opposite the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright.
ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.
