Five years ago, Clayton Kershaw took the mound at Dodger Stadium against the Colorado Rockies and provided the unbelievable highlight of what would go down as one of the greatest seasons by a pitcher in MLB history.
As Kershaw faces the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, with a commemorative bobblehead of his 15-strikeout no-hitter handed out to fans, a radically different Los Angeles Dodgers team will take the field behind him.
There are few similarities between the Dodgers of June 17, 2014 and this year’s club. A different front office constructed the current team, and a different manager will watch from the dugout.
But Kershaw remains the biggest constant during the Dodgers’ run of six straight National League West championships. Kershaw may not be the pitcher he was during his 2014 MVP season, but he is still one of the National League’s best. And no opposing team knows that fact quite as well as the Giants do.
Kershaw goes for his 18th straight quality start at home against the Giants, per STATS. Only one other pitcher in NL history has as many home quality starts, in which a pitcher allows three or fewer runs over six or more innings, against a single opponent.
That pitcher is Kershaw’s former teammate, Greg Maddux, who did so against the St. Louis Cardinals from 1990-1998.
Additionally, Kershaw is the only pitcher in MLB history with 40 or more quality starts in his first 45 outings against a certain opponent and the only one to post over 300 strikeouts and a sub-2.00 ERA against that opponent.
In other words, his track record against the Giants is historically dominant.
He starts Tuesday against rookie Shaun Anderson. The right-hander is riding a streak of three straight quality starts but has never faced the Dodgers in his young career.
Justin Turner returns to the lineup against Anderson, with Max Muncy at second base and Matt Beaty at first. Turner’s playing time has been limited as he nurses a right hamstring injury.
So far, however, the Dodgers have been successful in their attempt to manage Turner’s hamstring without sending him to the injured list.
Meanwhile, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford are in San Francisco’s lineup despite having .034 and .161 career batting averages, respectively, against Kershaw.
Dodgers Lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
CF: Alex Verdugo
3B: Justin Turner
RF: Cody Bellinger
2B: Max Muncy
SS: Chris Taylor
1B: Matt Beaty
C: Austin Barnes
P: Clayton Kershaw
Giants Lineup:
2B: Donovan Solano
1B: Brandon Belt
LF: Tyler Austin
C: Buster Posey
3B: Evan Longoria
RF: Kevin Pillar
SS: Brandon Crawford
CF: Steven Duggar
P: Shaun Anderson
