Sometimes, when Clayton Kershaw is less than perfect, we’ll joke about it being an off night for him. However, this was a legitimately off night for the Dodgers’ ace. It was his worst performance of the season to date by game score (46); his five-run, seven-inning effort vs. Miami was 53, thanks to those 10 strikeouts.
It was one bad inning that did Kershaw in. All four runs that the Pirates scored off of him came in the second. After retiring the leadoff batter, Kershaw allowed a pair of singles, then issued his eighth walk of the season (to Sean Rodriguez) to load the bases.