On Monday, Clayton Kershaw entered a tied game in the 12th inning with the bases full of Blue Jays.
His job was simple; get out of the jam needing one out against a left handed hitter. With the count full
and on his eighth and final pitch of the night, Kershaw induced a weak ground ball from Nathan Lukes to the right side of the infield. Tommy Edman shovel flipped the ball to Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers got out of the inning unscathed, and that officially marked the final appearance that Kershaw would ever have at Dodger Stadium.
While the Dodgers went on to win that Game 3 in an 18 inning thriller, the Dodgers head back to Toronto losers of their last two and facing elimination. While the team strutted off the field for the last time in 2025, Kershaw and his family took the time to soak in the final moments that he had as a player. Beth Harris of the Associated Press recounts the final moments that Dodgers fans got to witness an all-time and franchise great wave goodbye for the last time.
Kershaw is still on the World Series roster, and unless the Dodgers are forced to exhaust all their bullpen options similar to Game 3, it’s safe to say that he has officially closed the book on his legendary career.
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Shohei Ohtani made his final start of the postseason during Tuesday’s loss to Toronto, but there is a chance that the Dodgers could deploy him out of the bullpen for Friday’s Game 6 with the team at the brink of elimination. Sonja Chen of MLB.com details the plethora of options that the Dodgers could utilize for Ohtani which include relief outings and a potential outfield stint should the series survive for a Game 7.
“We’ll kind of talk through whatever is the best,” manager Dave Roberts said Thursday. “If we get to that point, we’ll see. But he’s not going to play the outfield tomorrow, I do know that. But if we get to Game 7, we’ll have a good discussion about everything.”
The Dodgers offense has cratered the past two games, scoring just three runs over their last 18 innings at the plate. The game plan for Game 6 is simple, although with the way the offense has struggled mightily, it’s easier in theory than in practice, notes Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.
“Focus on one game, and be good for one game,” Roberts said. “Go out there and compete.”
