LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw pitched the ultimate regular-season house recreation of his 18-year profession with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, welcomed and despatched off with standing ovations a day after asserting his decision to retire at season’s finish.
Kershaw’s longtime warmup track, “We Are Younger” by Enjoyable, blared as followers held up digital camera telephones to seize the second as the sport started. The cheers shortly turned to boos when San Francisco Giants leadoff hitter Heliot Ramos turned on an 86-mph slider for a 431-foot house run.
However the cheers returned after Rafael Devers took a referred to as third strike main off the fifth. Supervisor Dave Roberts got here to the mound and hugged Kershaw as his teammates on the sector, within the dugout and within the bullpen joined the sellout crowd of 53,037 in applauding the 37-year-old left-hander as he departed.
Kershaw left with the Dodgers trailing 2-1. He gave up two runs and 4 hits, struck out six and walked 4 in 4 1/3 innings on 91 pitches, 56 for strikes.
The defending World Sequence champion Dodgers rallied for a 6-3 victory to clinch their thirteenth consecutive postseason berth.
He waved after which wrapped his arms round himself in a hug gesture to the group. Two-way celebrity Shohei Ohtani stepped ahead to hug Kershaw, considered one of many he acquired from everybody within the dugout. With followers clamoring, Kershaw got here out for a curtain name, slowly turning round and soaking within the scene.
Followers donned No. 22 jerseys in a salute to Kershaw, though Ohtani’s No. 17 was distinguished as regular.
Kershaw was surrounded by teammates, his pregnant spouse Ellen, who was in tears, their 4 youngsters, and followers who’ve watched him work his manner by the Dodgers’ farm system to achieve the majors at age 20 and go on to win three Cy Young Awards in addition to two World Sequence championships.
Additionally available have been former teammate Russell Martin, who caught Kershaw’s main league debut in 2008, and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was Kershaw’s highschool soccer teammate in Texas.
“That is a kind of moments that persons are going to look again and go, ‘I used to be there for the final time he began a house recreation at Dodger Stadium,’” Roberts mentioned earlier than the sport.
Kershaw, a Dallas native who lives there within the offseason, has spent his total 18-year profession in Los Angeles.
“In a world that individuals take the straightforward manner out, chase brief cash, the grass is greener sort of adage, the loyalty a part of it’s simply not what it was once,” Roberts mentioned. “Clayton lives by these values and it means one thing for him to put on the identical uniform. That’s the place I gained lots of respect for him.”
Amongst Kershaw’s milestone moments within the metropolis was reaching 3,000 career strikeouts in July.
The Dodgers added a Kershaw bobblehead to their promotional schedule in July after he reached the milestone and the merchandise can be given out Saturday. He’ll deal with the followers earlier than Sunday’s recreation.
“All people who’s only a fan goes to wrap their arms round Clayton Kershaw,” teammate Freddie Freeman mentioned. “He deserves all the pieces he’s going to get from the followers.”
Whereas his velocity has dipped in recent times, Kershaw’s famed aggressive fireplace nonetheless burns brightly.
“Successful is all the time my favourite factor,” he mentioned.
Kershaw has battled accidents in recent times that made getting up to now all of the more durable. He missed the complete postseason final yr, when the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees within the World Sequence.
“Not lots of people get this chance,” he mentioned, “so I’m simply tremendous grateful for it.”
Roberts mentioned it was too early to say whether or not Kershaw would make one other begin subsequent week, when the Dodgers go to Arizona and Seattle to conclude the common season.
This story has been up to date to appropriate that this can be Kershaw’s final house begin within the common season, not his final regular-season begin general.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
