Clayton Kershaw felt strong – if not quite effective – in his return from the disabled list.
That was good enough for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They had muscle to spare against the New York Mets.
Kershaw and Jacob deGrom stumbled in an unexpected ace showdown
Earl Mitchell Jersey , Matt Kemp hit a pinch grand slam and the Dodgers won 8-3 on Saturday night.
The Dodgers have won 11 straight against the Mets dating to May 2016, matching their best run in the rivalry. Los Angeles beat New York 11 straight
times in 1963-64.
Kershaw gave up two runs over three innings in a surprise return from a lower back strain. He threw 55 pitches, starting out strong before laboring through
his final inning.
”Good to be back,” Kershaw said. ”Now I can focus on getting better.”
Left-handed rookie Caleb Ferguson (1-1) replaced him and escaped a couple tight situations over four scoreless innings for his first major league win.
DeGrom (5-3) allowed three earned runs in six innings, including Max Muncy’s 14th home run in the first. He entered the game with a major league-leading 1.51
ERA and hadn’t allowed three earned runs in a game since April 16 against
Washington.
New York has lost five straight overall and 12 of 13 at home. The Mets have scored four or fewer runs in 15 straight home games dating to May 20. Some fans
at Citi Field were wearing paper bags over their heads by the end of the
game.
”It was tough tonight,” said Brandon Nimmo, who had three hits for New York.
Kemp cleared the bases during a five-run eighth inning with his eighth career slam and 13th home run this season. Chris Taylor had a key two-run pinch double,
and Los Angeles won for the 24th time in 33 games.
KERSHAW BUILDING UP
Kershaw was scheduled to make a rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City at Omaha, but Los Angeles decided Friday to have him pitch in New York because of
precarious weather in Nebraska. The lefty ace had been sidelined since June
1.
Kershaw was electric in the first inning, freezing leadoff man Nimmo on a curveball for a three-pitch strikeout and catching Todd Frazier looking for a
five-pitch K.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner wasn’t as sharp after that. Michael Conforto and Jose Bautista lined consecutive doubles in the second inning to tie
it at 1, and Kershaw threw 25 pitches in the third inning
Jordan Phillips Jersey , including an RBI single by Wilmer Flores to put New York ahead 2-1.
Kershaw struck out four, walked one and allowed five hits before Taylor hit for him in the fourth. Kershaw was expected to be limited to roughly 60 pitches,
and he threw an extra simulated inning inside after being replaced.
”The most important thing, he came out of it feeling good, feeling strong,” manager Dave Roberts said.
FERGUSON’S ”GOOD TREND”
Ferguson struck out six, walked one and allowed three hits. The 21-year-old worked out of trouble in the fifth and seventh innings. The latter jam emerged
when Cody Bellinger badly misplayed Nimmo’s low liner to center, leading to a
one-out triple. Ferguson then struck out Frazier and got Asdrubal Cabrera to
ground out.
Ferguson dropped his ERA from 7.59 to 5.52 in his first career relief appearance – he’d previously made three starts. Roberts said Ferguson has shown
a ”good trend” of looking more comfortable with each outing.
”He’s handling himself considerably better each time out there,” Roberts said.
JOEY BATS
Bautista hit a solo homer off Yimi Garcia in the eighth inning, his fourth this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (4-1, 2.63) is still dealing with soreness from a right rib microfracture. Buehler nixed a scheduled bullpen session
Saturday
Tom Savage Jersey , and Roberts said he may throw it Sunday if there’s improvement. … LHP Adam Liberatore was optioned to Triple-A to make space for
Kershaw.
UP NEXT
LHP Rich Hill (1-2, 4.99) starts the series finale for the Dodgers. Jason Vargas was supposed to start for New York, but the Mets placed him on the DL
with a strained calf late Saturday night. The team expected to name a
replacement starter early Sunday.
—
Follow Jake Seiner at The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to deals with wide receiver Sammy Watkins and middle linebacker Anthony Hitchens, filling two of
their most glaring needs on the eve of free agency.
The 24-year-old Watkins intends to sign a $48 million, three-year contract with $30 million in guarantees, while the 25-year-old Hitchens agreed to a
five-year deal, two people familiar with their decisions told The Associated
Press on Tuesday.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the contracts, along with several other moves made by Kansas City, cannot become official until the start
of the free agency Wednesday afternoon.
The Chiefs have been looking for a playmaking wide receiver to pair with speedster Tyreek Hill since last offseason, but resorted to using Chris Conley
in the role. Then Conley went down with a season-ending injury, robbing the
Chiefs of their No. 2 wide receiver and forcing journeyman Albert Wilson into a
more substantial role in their West Coast offense.
But questions persist about Conley's health and long-term upside
Jon Ryan Jersey , and Wilson has agreed to a free-agent deal with the Miami Dolphins, leaving the Chiefs in the market for a wide receiver.
Watkins was considered one of the premier talents on the market.
The 2014 fourth overall pick of the Buffalo Bills spent last season with the Los Angeles Rams, where he caught 39 passes for 593 yards and eight touchdowns.
And while he seems far removed from his best season in 2015, when he caught 60
passes for 1,047 yards and nine scores in a season shorted by injury, the Chiefs
undoubtedly believe Watkins has yet to reach his ceiling.
It would help matters if he stayed healthy. Along with a calf strain and ankle sprain that season, he's had hip issues in the past, and missed eight
games in 2016 with a fractured left foot.
Buffalo decided to decline its fifth-year option on Watkins after all the injuries, and wound up sending him to the Rams last August for cornerback E.J.
Gaines and a draft pick.
On defense, the Chiefs have been trying to get younger across the board, releasing cornerstone linebackers Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali and shuffling
their defensive backfield.
Hitchens
Terrell Suggs Jersey , who The Kansas City Star reported will make about $9 million per season, would fill Johnson's spot alongside Reggie Ragland in the
middle of the defense. The 2014 fourth-round pick had 84 tackles in only 12
starts last season, when a knee injury sidelined him the first four games.
Hitchens also had a couple of pass deflections and nine tackles for a loss, and showed flashes of the same kind of instincts that made Johnson the Chiefs'
career tackles leader.
Watkins and Hitchens are expected to sign their contracts Wednesday, when the new league year means the Chiefs can finally consummate their agreed-upon trades
sending quarterback Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins and cornerback Marcus
Peters to the Rams.
The Chiefs will get cornerback Kendall Fuller and a draft pick back from Washington and two picks back from Los Angeles, allowing them to restock with
younger players through the draft.
Kansas City intends to turn its starting quarterback job over to Patrick Mahomes II, whom former general manager John Dorsey traded up to select 10th
overall last year. Mahomes dazzled during training camp and was dynamic in a
Week 17 start against Denver, when the Chiefs were already assured of the AFC
West title and their playoff positioning, allowing Smith to take the week
off.
That performance against the Broncos is what made the Chiefs comfortable moving on from Smith, who had a career season that made him coveted by several
other teams in the trade market.
Alize Johnson Jersey
