SAN DIEGO _ At this point in the Los Angeles Dodgers season, with a fifth consecutive division title and home-field advantage in October all but assured, the events of the present pale when compared to their implications for the future.
In a 1-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday, the return of Clayton Kershaw from the disabled list managed to merge the two pursuits. In the present, Kershaw spun six scoreless innings, struck out seven batters and appeared unperturbed by an absence that began when he strained his back July 23. The performance allowed the Dodgers to exhale about the future _ Kershaw looked like Kershaw.
The victory ended a five-game losing streak, the longest of the season for the Dodgers (92-41). Kershaw (16-2, 1.95 ERA) played a familiar role. His team has not lost one of his starts since May 1.
Kershaw faced little adversity. He permitted two infield singles. He walked none. His outfielders did not field the baseball once. The bullpen did its job, with Kenley Jansen getting the save.
Kershaw's return coincided with the internal schedule the Dodgers produced after the first examination of Kershaw's back. The initial diagnosis suggested he would require four to six weeks of rehabilitation. Kershaw refuted the existence of a timetable when it was reported by news outlets, including the Los Angeles Times. He ended up missing 40 days, just shy of six weeks.
On Aug. 21, as he prepared for a minor league rehab assignment, Kershaw said he had felt healthy enough to pitch 10 days before.
"Where we were at on the calendar, we slow-played it," manager Dave Roberts said before the game. "If it were up to him, he would have been back sooner. And I think he said that publicly. But as an organization, what we've done with all our players is err on the side of caution."
On Friday, Kershaw found comfort in familiar rituals. The afternoon heat felt oppressive. The temperature approached 90 degrees, a scorcher by San Diego's placid standards. Kershaw still slipped into a sweatshirt. He pulled the hood over his head, pumping his knees as he jogged through a Petco Park hallway.
Roberts figured Kershaw would undergo an infusion of adrenaline after the time off. Roberts planned to monitor Kershaw's efficiency, as he was slated to last around five innings with a negotiable pitch count of 75, while studying the sharpness of his slider. When Kershaw returned from his injury in 2016, sometimes he could not generate the proper depth on the pitch. Roberts watched Kershaw's last three bullpen sessions, and felt confident in the precision of Kershaw's arsenal.
"I don't expect him to be on point all night long," Roberts said. "But we expect him to go out there and compete."
Kershaw aimed for a higher plane than mere competence. The first batter he faced was Padres outfielder Manuel Margot. Margot chipped a grounder that skipped over the bare hand of second baseman Chase Utley for an infield single. Kershaw responded by retiring the next 12 batters.
The Padres did not produce another baserunner until an infield single by shortstop Yangervis Solarte in the fifth.
As he dominated on the mound, Kershaw's teammates struggled to solve San Diego starter Dinelson Lamet. When Kershaw singled in the fifth inning, after a walk by rookie outfielder Alex Verdugo in the second plate appearance of his career, it was only the Dodgers' second hit of the evening. Lamet responded by striking out Chris Taylor and Curtis Granderson to strand both runners.
Kershaw treated a relative threat with similar ease in the bottom of the inning. Solarte singled on a ground ball deep into the hole on the left side of the infield. Kershaw did not waver. He froze outfielder Jabari Blash with an 0-2 fastball, fanned third baseman Cory Spangenberg with a slider and ended the inning on a groundout from catcher Austin Hedges.
Kershaw had thrown 59 pitches. Before the outing, Roberts framed the five-inning, 75-pitch guidelines as a rough outline. The team would adapt based on how Kershaw looked. And so Kershaw watched from the hole, with two outs in the top of the sixth, as Utley stroked a two-out RBI single for a 1-0 lead.
There was no drama in the bottom of the sixth. Kershaw induced a pair of groundouts, sandwiched around Margot's popup. He had thrown 70 pitches. There was no need to throw any more.
