SAN DIEGO — The difference in Round 2 of the season-long marquee bout between the Los Angele Dodgers and San Diego Padres — World Series contenders and undisguised adversaries — was manufactured by Clayton Kershaw. Not with his slider or curveball or even with his bat. But with his eyes.
The bases were loaded in the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ 2-0 win Saturday night when Kershaw walked to the plate to face Yu Darvish, his former teammate, offseason throwing partner and fellow ace. Darvish was suddenly on the ropes.
His perfect-game bid was ruined three batters earlier when he hit Zach McKinstry’s back foot with a curveball. The next batter, Luke Raley, broke up his no-hit bid with a single to center field. Austin Barnes then walked to load the bases and pin the inning’s fate on Kershaw, a .161 career hitter whose admitted goal in the batter’s box is to be annoying.
Darvish inexplicably fell behind 2-0 before he found the zone. Kershaw took the next pitch for a strike before fouling off the three subsequent pitches. Darvish then fired two balls, the second just off the plate that Kershaw took for a walk to push across the game’s first run.
The Dodgers held the one-run edge until Justin Turner slammed his fifth home run of the season in the ninth inning for the Dodgers’ second and final hit of the night. Turner entered the season with three career home runs in March and April. He has slugged his five home runs — one more than his total in 2020 — in 60 plate appearances.
The margin remained thanks to Mookie Betts’ diving catch in right-center field on a line drive off Tommy Pham’s bat to end the game with runners on second and third. The ball landed on the heel of Betts’ glove. He secured it with his right hand. He pounded his chest and howled from his knees.
“I mean, I just kind of blacked out,” Betts said. “I was in the moment, playing the game. I just knew that when the ball went up in the air, I had to go catch it, and that’s what I did.”
Kershaw logged six scoreless innings, extending his scoreless innings streak to 18. He had eight strikeouts to two walks and generated 16 swings-and-misses. He has surrendered one run in 19 innings over his last three starts since his rough outing on opening day at Coors Field.
Darvish countered by surrendering a run on one hit across seven innings. He struck out nine and gave up two walks that ultimately cost the Padres the game. The Dodgers (13-2) have won 13 of 14 games and eight straight — four by shutout. The Padres (9-7) are 41/2 games behind in the standings entering Sunday’s series finale.
The series opener Friday night featured a stupefying mishmash of highlights, oddities and escalated emotions. The teams combined for six errors. The benches cleared. Corey Seager slugged a leadoff two-run home run in the 12th inning. A pitcher, David Price, hit a sacrifice fly off a position player, Jake Cronenworth, to a pitcher, Joe Musgrove, in left field.
By the end of the long night, both sides openly acknowledged what the world around them already heartily recognized: This was a rivalry.
“It was a like a playoff game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his club’s 12-inning win.
The intensity was heightened again Saturday and spiked in the bottom of the fourth inning. The game had been a ho-hum pitcher’s duel until Kershaw fired a fastball by Jurickson Profar. The pitch was over the plate and initially called strike three to conclude the frame.
But Profar protested, arguing that he hit Austin Barnes’ glove with his half swing, which should have triggered a catcher’s interference call and given him first base. The umpires decided to review the play. Kershaw then erupted, shouting at Profar from in front of the Dodgers’ dugout. Profar yelled back from first base as the benches half-emptied.
Catcher’s interference was quickly ruled. Kershaw then threw over to first base twice, eliciting boos from the annoyed crowd, before getting Cronenworth to fly out to end the inning.
The Padres concocted their best scoring chance against Kershaw in the sixth inning. Trent Grisham worked a leadoff walk. Two batters later, Manny Machado cracked a single to left field to put runners on the corners for Wil Myers.
The Dodgers shifted their infield against the right-handed-hitting Myers, moving second baseman Chris Taylor over behind second base. The positioning saved the Dodgers a run. Myers hit a ground ball that skipped off the mound right to Taylor, who backhanded the ball, sprinted to second base and tossed a jump throw to first base to squash the threat.
Friday’s marathon forced both clubs to dig deep into their bullpens. The Dodgers used six relievers. The Padres needed eight and a position player. To avoid a shortage Sunday, the teams made roster moves to replenish their relief corps with a fresh arm.
The Padres placed right-hander Dan Altavilla on the 10-day injured list with elbow inflammation and recalled left-hander Nick Ramirez. The Dodgers recalled left-hander Alex Vesia from their alternate training site and optioned infielder/outfielder Matt Beaty, giving them 14 pitchers on their roster at least for the night.
Both starters provided length to ease the burden on the bullpens. Kershaw was just a bit better, on the mound and in the batter’s box.
