Clayton Kershaw was sharp in a fourth and final Spring Training start and Craig Kimbrel struggled during his Los Angeles Dodgers debut in a 10-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants to wrap up Cactus League play.
Kershaw began his outing by striking out the side in the first inning on just 11 pitches — all strikes. He stranded a two-out base hit in the second, but the Giants managed to get on the board the next inning.
After nearly hitting a home run down the left-field line, Maurcio Dubón drew a walk that end up leading to a run. A groundout moved Dubón into scoring position for Austin Slater, who hit a game-tying, ground-rule RBI double.
Joey Bart’s second base hit of the game marked the end for Kershaw at 57 pitches over four-plus innings. He allowed just the one run and finished with six strikeouts.
It’s not yet known when Kershaw will make his first start of the regular season, but it figures to come in the second or third game of the series against the Colorado Rockies.
Kershaw was given a lead in the second inning behind Andy Pages’ two-out RBI single. The hit was Pages’ first of Spring Training. Pages later added a double that left two runners in scoring position with nobody out and set the table for Gavin Lux to provide L.A. with a lead on his sacrifice fly.
Kimbrel hit hard in Dodgers debut
Dubón hit Kimbrel’s first pitch for a double in the seventh inning, and Austin Dean followed with a home run that extended the Giants’ lead to 4-2. Brett Auerbach made it back-to-back home runs, and Jason Krizan hit a single before Kimbrel retired a batter.
He was removed after striking out Arquimedes Gamboa. Kimbrel threw 19 pitches in what was just his second appearance of Spring Training.
Bickford gets into game
After being eased through camp because of arm soreness, Phil Bickford got into his first game of Spring Training. The right-hander struck out a pair and retired the side in order on 13 pitches in the eighth inning.
Bickford — like Caleb Ferguson and Tommy Kahnle — will not be on the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster.
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