SAN DIEGO _ As the fans populating the lower bowl of Petco Park rose for the seventh-inning stretch, a pair of Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers were in motion. The bullpen door opened as Erik Goeddel jogged to the mound looking to protect an eventual 8-2 victory over the San Diego Padres. Weaving through his teammates in the dugout, bound for the clubhouse, was Clayton Kershaw.
In his fourth start back from the disabled list, and only his fifth outing since May 1, Kershaw kept the scoreboard spotless even if his performance was not flawless. He allowed two singles across six scoreless innings. He struck out five. The Padres could not advance a runner past second base.
"It was a good day," Kershaw said. "Definitely a step in the right direction."
The outing might have been relegated to the dustbin of Kershaw's career, an effective if unspectacular night, had he not reached two unique milestones. When Kershaw finished the second inning, he surpassed 2,000 innings pitched in his 11-year career. And in the third, he faced former catcher and longtime friend A.J. Ellis for the first time. Ellis could not dent Kershaw in either of his two at-bats. The rest of the Padres fared little better.
The offense arrived in a fourth-inning flurry. Back with the team for the first time since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last May, Andrew Toles provided a two-run double and raced home for another run in a five-run blitz. Matt Kemp supplied a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Justin Turner tacked on a two-run single in the eighth. The Dodgers pulled back within a half game of Arizona for first place in the National League West.
Kershaw continued to make progress after missing a month with biceps tendinitis and another three weeks with a lower back strain. He has struck out 17 batters in 20 innings, with a 2.25 earned-run average. He has yet to pitch into the seventh inning, but he logged 89 pitches on Monday.
"He felt strong enough to keep going," manager Dave Roberts said. "So that was a good thing. Getting him to 90 pitches was a win for us."
Kershaw required 22 pitches to complete the first inning on Monday. He was more efficient in the next inning, striking out a pair and leaving Ellis in the on-deck circle. Kershaw crossed the threshold of the 2,000-inning mark with the first six outs of the game.
"Should have done it a lot sooner," Kershaw said. "I just keep getting hurt. But it's cool. It sounds like a lot of innings. Hopefully I've got a few more left."
Ellis came to the plate to start the bottom of the third. He first caught Kershaw in 2007 when they teamed together in double-A Jacksonville. They rose to the majors in 2008. Ellis crouched behind the plate for Kershaw 118 times, nearly twice as many as any other catcher. Their friendship ran deep, as the two bonded over faith and family.
The two men wept on Aug. 25, 2016, when the Dodgers traded Ellis to Philadelphia for catcher Carlos Ruiz. The shock took long to fade. Ellis struggled to watch the Dodgers play in the postseason without him. His connection to Kershaw stayed strong even after signing with Miami in 2017; other Marlins joked that Ellis spent more time watching Kershaw's starts on his iPad than he did watching his own team.
Ellis returned to the division this season. He roomed with Kershaw in Phoenix during spring training. He had managed to avoid facing him in a game until Monday. Ellis trotted to the plate without fanfare. Neither man tipped his cap nor gestured toward one another. Kershaw handcuffed Ellis with a 2-2 slider; Ellis pounded it into the ground for an out.
"That was miserable," Kershaw said. "I've faced a lot of ex-teammates and friends in this game, but probably nobody with the history that I have with A.J. We both kind of decided that hopefully that was our last time to have to do that."
The Dodgers sank Luis Perdomo in the fourth. The lineup assembled five runs on four hits, two walks and the legs of Toles. The rally started with a double by Cody Bellinger and a walk by Kemp. Yasmani Grandal broke the scoreless deadlock by shooting an RBI double in the right-field corner. Chris Taylor ripped a run-scoring single into right.
Toles entered the batter's box with a pair of runners aboard for the second time. In the second inning, San Diego manager Andy Green had Toles intentionally walked to load the bases. Kershaw grounded out to end the inning. In the fourth, Green allowed Toles to bat, even after Taylor stole second and left first base unoccupied. Toles punished Green and the Padres for the opening.
Perdomo flung a 95-mph fastball down the middle. Toles responded with a rocket off the left-field wall. Two runs scored. Toles scooted into second base for his first hit in 14 months.
"He probably wasn't trying to throw a pitch down the middle," Toles said.
Added Bellinger, "Tolesy being Tolesy _ all he does is hit."
He had enough energy left to create another run. Toles went to third when Kershaw grounded out. When Joc Pederson hit a sharp grounder to San Diego second baseman Jose Pirela, Toles ran on contact. The throw from Pirela was not true. Ellis left his crouch to retrieve it. Toles careened across the plate safely for the fifth run of the inning.
Kershaw buckled down after giving up a single to Perdomo in the third. He did not allow another hit until Wil Myers singled with one out in the sixth. The hit did not rattle Kershaw. He popped up outfielder Hunter Renfroe with a 92-mph fastball and induced a groundout from first baseman Eric Hosmer with a slider.
The Dodgers added another run in the seventh. After a walk by Max Muncy and another double from Bellinger, Kemp lifted a sacrifice fly into right field. The cushion was sizable enough for Roberts to trust his bullpen with the final nine outs.
"Clayton just has an innate ability to really be great," Roberts said. "And he's changed his workout regimen and things like that, and how he attacks hitters in the last few years, but the effectiveness is still there."
