LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw looked rusty during his first major league outing in nearly nine months.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner lasted four innings Saturday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing five runs and five hits in a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels. He walked three, struck out two and threw 48 of 83 pitches for strikes before the Angels pulled out an 11-9 victory.
The club’s career strikeout leader needs 30 to reach 3,000 in his illustrious career.
“It’s a special thing to get to go back and pitch at Dodger Stadium,” Kershaw said. “Obviously, I wanted to pitch better. Need to pitch better going forward. I think there’s some glimpses of my stuff being there, which is good. The problem tonight was just command. I had really bad command tonight.”
Kershaw was making his 2025 debut after recovering from offseason toe and knee surgeries. The 37-year-old left-hander gave up three runs in a 38-pitch first inning when Logan O’Hoppe delivered a two-run single and Matthew Lugo had an RBI single.
The Dodgers tied it in the bottom half before the Angels scored once in the third inning on a home run from Taylor Ward and again in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Zach Neto. Kershaw exited after four innings trailing 5-4.
“He got to a lot of two-strike counts and couldn’t put hitters away, where typically that’s his hallmark. When he gets count leverage, he can get a strikeout,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Tonight, he just couldn’t put guys away. The stuff overall I was excited about.”
Kershaw made his final rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday, yielding two runs on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. He threw 57 pitches over four innings.
He was asked Saturday night what positives carried over from his rehab outings.
“This is where the performance starts,” Kershaw said. “So now we start analyzing performance and try to figure out how to get people out consistently. It’s hard to compare, because it’s a completely different animal.”
In seven big league starts last year, Kershaw was 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA before his season ended Aug. 30 because of pain in his left big toe. His injuries prevented him from pitching in the postseason as the Dodgers won their eighth World Series championship.
By throwing his first pitch Saturday night, Kershaw began his 18th season with the Dodgers — tying the franchise record also held by Hall of Fame outfielder Zack Wheat and shortstop Bill Russell.
“Leading up to this, it’s definitely … I don’t like the word emotional, but there’s definitely some thoughts,” Kershaw said about pitching again. “It’s just special, you know? So I think as you have done it more, and you get a little bit older, you just learn to appreciate it more. It was different.”
Kershaw entered 212-94 with a 2.50 ERA in 432 appearances (429 starts) since making his debut for the Dodgers in 2008.
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