Clayton Kershaw has returned to his usual dominant form after he had a somewhat rocky stretch in which he gave up 10 home runs in five starts, and he has a simple explanation for how he has righted the ship.
Kershaw gave up just two hits in seven innings of work to earn a win against the Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday night, and the Los Angeles Dodgers ace has not allowed an earned run in 20 innings. He credited the media for that.
Clayton Kershaw (0 ER last 20 IP): "You guys kept telling me I was giving up so many homers, so I was ready to stop doing it." #Dodgers
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) July 5, 2017
Having won his last six decisions, Kershaw is now 13-2 on the season with a 2.19 ERA. He hasn’t really pitched poorly for any extended period of time, but the home runs were a bit uncharacteristic for the lefty.
No pitcher in baseball takes his job more seriously than Kershaw, which we were reminded of during a bench-clearing brawl earlier in the year. You knew he wouldn’t keep giving up a homer in every start.
