A long day of baseball is finally over, but not before Clayton Kershaw came over from minor-league camp for his first taste of a major-league game ever. His inning was far from perfect, but it was in every way impressive. He started by giving up a towering home run to the first batter he faced, Luis Jimenez, then after striking out Felipe Lopez looking, Kershaw gave up a single to Ronnie Belliard and a double to Elijah Dukes before hitting Alex Escobar to load the bases with one out. Kershaw, who will turn 20 in about two weeks, then showed the poise of a big-league veteran, striking out Kory Casto and Humberto Cota in succession to leave the bases loaded. He froze Cota on a nasty breaking ball. Welcome to the big leagues, Clayton Kershaw.
“He has a (heck) of a curveball,” Joe Torre said. “He has a really good changeup, too, but he didn’t get it down (to Jimenez). After the home run, he just sort of smiled. It was like, welcome to the big leagues. It’s wonderful to see that kind of enthusiasm.”
Andy LaRoche went 2 for 4 with a HR and now is hitting .385 for the spring. Greg Miller struggled again, walking his first batter on four pitches, but he then got a GIDP from Chad Moeller (remember him?) and got Frank Diaz to fly to left. It was encouraging, but in the words of Torre, he still has a long way to go.
Finally, Torre decided to swap bullpens for what is believed to be the first time in the 60-year history of Holman Stadium. The Dodgers pitchers warmed up in the rightfield corner, just off the visiting clubhouse, while the Nats pitchers had to use the pen down the LF line. Joe said it was simply because he asks ALL of his pitchers to stay at least five innings, and he didn’t want this mass exodus of pitchers walking across the field after the fifth inning.
With the split, the Dodgers go to 2-4-1 for the spring. At the Mets tomorrow.