Clayton Kershaw Frustrated by Latest Rough Outing for Dodgers
It was a grind, but the Dodgers held on to beat the Rays 6-5 on Saturday, with the team rallying together to get Clayton Kershaw off the hook from the loss.
Kershaw started strong, holding Tampa Bay scoreless over the first three innings but the league's best team got to him stunning the ace for 4 runs across the 4th and 5th. Altogether, it was another rough start for Kersh, marking a rough end to a really bad month of May.
The uncharacteristic performance left him frustrated and looking for answers.
“This was such a great team win. I didn’t have anything to do with it unfortunately,” Kershaw said. “Personally, it’s frustrating. I felt like I had some good rhythm, good momentum going for a few innings then just kind of lost it there. My command just became really inconsistent. It’s frustrating. It’s not really something I’m used to having to struggle with. ... Whether it’s mental — I need to focus better — or mechanical, I'm not sure, but I need to go back to the drawing board to figure it out. It's our job as starters to get going."
This marked Kershaw's third consecutive atypical start. He has allowed 10 runs in his last 12.2 innings, and his May ERA stands at an unsightly 5.55, following his impressive April as the NL Pitcher of the Month.
The way the game went on Saturday, he just seemed to run out of gas in the 4th, which makes sense considering the week he had. A creature of habit had his routine thrown off. The fact that he threw his usual between starts bullpen on Friday certainly couldn't have helped.
Kershaw will have an additional day of rest before his next start against the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium.
