Dodgers News: Clayton Kershaw Slams Coors Field Excuses After Tough Outing
Saturday night, Clayton Kershaw took the mound in Coors Field for his 14th start of the season and though he tends to have a bit of bad luck in the mile-high city, the Dodgers All-Star veteran refused to use excuses for the team’s 5-3 loss.
Kershaw viewed it as just another game completely disregarding the change in elevation that has been shown to alter pitches a.k.a the “Coors Field Affect”. After the game, he spoke with the OC Register's Bill Plunkett.
“I just don’t think about it. I just try to make pitches…I’m not going to let any ballpark dictate how I feel about how I pitch. I’m not that mentally weak. I just think you’ve got to pitch and if you don’t pitch good you’ve got to own up to it.”
Over his past 13 years, Kershaw has a 4.82 ERA across 26 career starts at Coors Field. This season, in his two starts, he has given up 11 runs (9 earned) across 9 1/3 innings, resulting in a 8.68 ERA. The Rockies have hit .378 against him at home. When Kershaw starts at any other stadium, he has a 2.34 ERA.
The three-time NL Cy Young winner struggled on the mound early, giving two runs in the first and walking four batters across 5 1/3 innings.
In total, he gave up 8 hits and 5 runs, while only striking out three batters. Ending the night with a 2.66 ERA. While it is understandable that Kershaw doesn't want to make excuses, he may have to accept that as good as he is, there are still things that he cannot control.
