PHOENIX _ The next hit Clayton Kershaw gives up this spring will be the opposition's first against him. In his second Cactus League outing, Kershaw zoomed through two spotless innings against the Indians in a 4-2 victory over Cleveland.
"He had everything working," Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said. "The slider was good, (he had) fastball command. Two clean innings. It was good to see."
Kershaw has retired all nine batters faced thus far. He faced a collection of Indians regulars that included infielder Jose Ramirez, designated hitter Yan Gomes and outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall. Only two Indians managed to get the baseball out of the infield.
"You definitely want to try to face guys that are playing every day in the big leagues," Kershaw said. "You want that. And I faced some good hitters today, which is always helpful, to see where you're at. But at this point in spring, the pitchers still have the advantage."
At this juncture, little looks amiss with Kershaw, who is operating under increased scrutiny this spring after sitting out a significant portion of 2016 because of a herniated disk in his lower back. He remains on track to start his seventh consecutive opening day, and has shown no sign of distress related to his health.
During his 23-pitch outing, Kershaw saw improvement with his fastball command, though he indicated his curveball was not always cooperative. The pitch broke as he wanted, but he could not maneuver it over the plate.
"I maybe threw one or two in the strike zone, but the rest were bounced," he said. "In certain situations, you want to bounce it, but today I was trying to get it in there for a strike a little more often, and I wasn't able to do that."
