The Los Angeles Dodgers had their six-game winning streak snapped on Friday with a 10-6 loss to the San Diego Padres, which saw Clayton Kershaw struggle in his start.
Kershaw pitchers just 4.2 innings and allowed four runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs to Fernando Tatís Jr. He also issued a season-high five walks, which doubled his total from the previous six outings.
The matchup between the two clubs was the first since the Padres eliminated the Dodgers in the 2022 National League Division Series. The Padres decided to troll Kershaw after the game with an edited meme of the southpaw crying.
Kershaw was shown the video, but he brushed it off and put his focus on improving his own performance, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I don’t think I’m going to take the bait on this one,” Kershaw said when asked for his reaction. “You don’t like it, pitch better,” he said. “That’s probably the main rule there. I don’t think they do it if we win.”
After the loss, Kershaw was frustrated with his outing, which surely annoyed him more than the Padres’ scoreboard given his competitive nature.
“You can’t walk five guys,” Kershaw said. “It’s unacceptable. It’s not a good recipe to win games, so I’ll just try not to do that next time.”
Historically, the Dodgers and Padres have not had much of a rivalry, with L.A. winning 510-416 (.551) record entering the series finale on Sunday.
The Dodgers’ primary rival are the San Francisco Giants, but manager Dave Roberts has acknowledged a growing rivalry between them and the Padres.
As the Padres try to make it a rivalry on the level of the Dodgers and Giants, or the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, there’s more history and matchups needed.
Clayton Kershaw enjoyed Petco Park atmosphere
With the Padres possessing a talented roster and after making a deep playoff run, more of their fans have shown up to Petco Park, which adds to the competitiveness of the matchups.
“It’s a good environment,” Kershaw said. “Definitely loud. It makes it more fun, I guess, when people are into it.”
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