{"id":165389,"date":"2025-08-22T02:54:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T02:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/165389\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T02:54:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T02:54:15","slug":"clayton-kershaw-and-rebounding-offense-help-dodgers-salvage-split-against-rockies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/165389\/","title":{"rendered":"Clayton Kershaw and rebounding offense help Dodgers salvage split against Rockies"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Dodgers<\/a> arrived in Colorado on Sunday night they had a golden opportunity to pad their narrow division lead against with the worst team in the majors. Unfortunately, even with Thursday\u2019s 9-5 win<\/a> over the Rockies, the Dodgers only managed a split of the four-game series.<\/p>\n

They now head to San Diego<\/a> for a crucial three-game-series against the San Diego Padres with the division lead once again up for grabs.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI wish we had won all four, but it just didn’t happen,\u201d Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said. \u201cThat’s just the way baseball is. So we\u2019ve got to go out there and regardless of the standings, we\u2019ve got to beat those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

The standings, however, loom large. On July 7, the Dodgers led the division by six games. The margin is now just a game.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/b> Rocky, and painful, outing for Shohei Ohtani as Dodgers lose to Colorado<\/a><\/p>\n

The Padres, who have won 12 of 19 games in August, are the third-hottest team in the National League this month. The Dodgers are a game over .500.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is what it is,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt’s where we’re at right now and I can’t change it. I feel good about our club going into San Diego.\u201d<\/p>\n

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His club will have a bit of momentum on its side after scoring 20 runs on 30 hits in the two wins at Coors Field. Thursday\u2019s matinee saw four players finish with multiple hits, including third baseman Alex Freeland<\/a>, who was a career-best three for five with a run scored and another driven in. Freeland had six hits in the final three games in Denver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s just like I’m building confidence now,\u201d said Freeland, who entered Thursday hitting .180 since his call-up from triple-A Oklahoma City three weeks ago. \u201cI’ve kind of spent a little time here now and I’m getting comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers also got a fourth straight strong effort from starter Clayton Kershaw<\/a> (8-2), who gave up three runs in 5\u2154 innings. Kershaw has allowed just five runs over 23 2\/3 innings this month, dropping his season ERA nearly 50 points to 3.13.<\/p>\n

That was also good enough to keep his team in first, something he noted afterward.<\/p>\n

\"Fans<\/p>\n

Fans applaud as Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw heads to the dugout after being pulled from the mound in the sixth inning Thursday. (David Zalubowski \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can’t take anything for granted in Colorado, obviously,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, we’re [one] up going in [to San Diego]. So we feel good about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Freeland agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely could have produced more. But you know what? We’re going to take this one today and take this momentum and bring it into San Diego,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After Kershaw won the opener of a three-game series with the Padres at Dodger Stadium a week ago, the teams were even atop the N.L. The Dodgers wound up sweeping that series and have won eight of 10 with the Padres overall this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve played well against those guys this year,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThey’re going to give us everything they have this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers got started early Thursday with Mookie Betts<\/a>, who reached base four times, opening the game by walking on five pitches. Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run home run, his 16th\u00a0of the season, to center field.<\/p>\n

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Read more:<\/b> Plaschke: The ‘legend’ Clayton Kershaw is legendary again for Dodgers<\/a><\/p>\n

The Rockies cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning on a popup that got lost in the sun, a sacrifice bunt, a balk and an RBI groundout. But they would get no closer, with the Dodgers scoring in each of the first five innings to take an 8-2 lead.<\/p>\n

Freeland had his first career triple along with a double and single, falling a homer shy of the cycle. He had six hits in the final three games in Denver. Betts finished two for three with two walks and two runs scoring while Freeman, who was two for five, raised his season average to .304 and is hitting .328 for August.<\/p>\n

Shohei Ohtani feeling fine<\/p>\n

Roberts said pitcher\/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani<\/a> is fine after taking a line drive off his right thigh in Wednesday\u2019s game. Ohtani was scheduled to have Thursday off and Roberts said he\u2019ll be back in the lineup Friday.<\/p>\n

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Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates set to return<\/p>\n

The Dodgers will activate reliever Tanner Scott<\/a> before Friday\u2019s game in San Diego and reliever Kirby Yates<\/a> on Saturday. Scott has been out a month with inflammation in his left elbow while Yates has missed three weeks with lower back pain.<\/p>\n

Roki Sasaki making progress<\/p>\n

Right-hander Roki Sasaki<\/a> made progress in his second rehab start Wednesday, going 3\u2153 innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked three and struck out two before leaving after 60 pitches. He will make another rehab start next week before the Dodgers make any decision on his role in September. The team had talked about using Sasaki in a relief role.<\/p>\n

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the Dodgers arrived in Colorado on Sunday night they had a golden opportunity to pad their narrow…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":165390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[32074,7480,4439,875,94304,2442,6595,52641,1266,2749,11638,3549,1306,4712,62,51383,22888,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-165389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-alex-freeland","9":"tag-clayton-kershaw","10":"tag-colorado","11":"tag-dave-roberts","12":"tag-david-zalubowski","13":"tag-dodgers","14":"tag-freddie-freeman","15":"tag-kirby-yates","16":"tag-mlb","17":"tag-mookie-betts","18":"tag-roki-sasaki","19":"tag-san-diego","20":"tag-san-diego-padres","21":"tag-shohei-ohtani","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-tanner-scott","24":"tag-the-dodgers","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115070164351266069","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}