Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw allowed two runs on six hits over six innings in a Wednesday loss to the Oakland Athletics. And most surprisingly of all, he struck out just one batter.
The lone strikeout was a season-low for Kershaw, but perhaps even more odd than that was the All-Star managed to get only four swinging strikes. Still, it was enough to earn his seventh consecutive quality start.
It was just the third time in Kershaw’s career that he struck out fewer than two batters and over eight years since the last time he had that sort of strikeout futility. It was also the longest Kershaw had gone into a start (4 1/3 innings) without recording a strikeout in his career (307 career starts).
After the game, Kershaw acknowledged that he got through with nothing but “smoke and mirrors.”
“I didn’t have much of anything tonight. It was a little bit of smoke and mirrors,” Kershaw told the Orange County Register. “I was getting ahead of guys but especially in that 4th inning when they scored – a lot of hits with 2 strikes there. I didn’t really have those put-away pitches.”
Kershaw’s (5-5) next start is scheduled for Monday, August 13 against the San Francisco Giants.
