A solitary figure parted the crowd, with the Giants massed on one side of the diamond and the Dodgers gathering outside their dugout. In baseball, bench-clearing skirmishes involve more grandstanding than fisticuffs and Clayton Kershaw had little time for foolishness. He punched his glove and jogged to the mound, preparing to warm up as the umpires sorted out the tizzy between Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto.
The tiff delivered some drama in the third inning of a 6-1 Dodgers victory. But it could not distract from the afternoon’s main attraction, a vintage performance by Kershaw.