The Walk Off: Clayton Kershaw is so good right now it’s ridiculous
Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Clayton Kershaw is good. Like, really, really good. Like, he threw his third shutout of the month Monday night. Of the month!
Kershaw’s so good and we’re so spoiled by his dominance that what he did against the Cincinnati Reds in the Dodgers’ 1-0 win actually had fans joking that he was only ho-hum. Kershaw gave up two hits, only struck out seven and actually walked someone. Yep, Kershaw’s so good these days that seven Ks and a walk is actually an off night.
Enjoy this ridiculous stat from Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
Kershaw’s lack of walks this season is well documented, but he’s now up to five walks against 95 strikeouts in 79 innings this season, which puts his K/BB rate at 19.0. Noah Syndergaard is second in MLB in K/BB at 8.44. And get this? Kershaw’s K/BB rate actually got worse Monday night. It was 22.0 prior to this latest shutout.
His numbers in May: 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA, which is three earned runs in 33 innings. He’s surrendered just 18 hits in that time and struck out 48 hitters. He K’d 12 in a May 12 shutout against the Mets and 14 in a May 1 shutout against the Padres.
The way the schedule lines up, Kershaw will get one more start in May, probably against the Mets again. May he have mercy on their bats.
TOP PERFORMERS
• Johnny Cueto: Kershaw wasn’t the only pitcher who put on a show Monday night. Give Cueto some props too. He finished with a two-hit shutout of his own as the Giants also picked up a 1-0 win. The Giants’ win had its own bit of oddness, as the game went into the bottom of the ninth tied at zero. The Giants won when Hunter Pence hit a pinch-hit pop-up to right field that fell in front of Matt Kemp. Brandon Belt raced around to score from first base. Wasn’t the fanciest walk-off win of the year, but it got the job done. Cueto, meanwhile, struck out six and didn’t issue a walk. It was his second straight complete game.
• Rich Hill: He didn’t quite get a shutout, but A’s starter Rich Hill was solid against the Seattle Mariners in Oakland’s 5-0 win. Hill went eight scoreless inning, scattering eight hits and striking out six. He’s now 7-3 with a 2.18 ERA this season.
• Albert Pujols: In the Angels’ 2-0 win over the Texas Rangers, it was Pujols who supplied all the offense. His two-run homer in the third inning secured the win. It was also his 569th career homer, which tied him with Rafael Palmeiro for 11th all-time.
MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT
It might be too early in the season to start talking about Cardinal Devil Magic, but it certainly felt like one of those games Monday night for the St. Louis Cardinals. They were down 3-1 in the seventh inning to the rival Chicago Cubs before Matt Adams came off the bench to hit a two-run, pinch-hit homer to tie things up.
Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Randal Grichuk came to the plate with two outs to face Cubs reliever Adam Warren. Grichuk took Warren to a 2-2 count before depositing the fifth pitch into the right-center stands and ending the game with a walk-off homer. The 4-3 loss was the third straight for the Cubs, the first time they’ve lost three consecutive games this season.
THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
• Royals 10, Twins 4: The Kansas City offense explodes for 10 runs on 17 hits, including a 5-for-5 night from Salvador Perez.
• Marlins 7, Rays 6: In this battle for Florida, the Fish score two in the eighth for the comeback win.
• Tigers 5, Phillies 4: Victor Martinez knocks in the go-ahead run with a seventh-inning single.
• Mets 7, Nats 1: Yoenis Cespedes hits one of three Mets homers to beat Gio Gonzalez and the Nats.
• White Sox 7, Indians 6: Mat Latos — yes, Mat Latos — is 6-1 after White Sox hang on to beat their AL Central foes in the first game of a doubleheader.
• Indians 5, White Sox 1: The Tribe get revenge in Game 2 of the double dip, as Jose Ramirez, Juan Uribe and Rajai Davis all homer.
• Pirates 6, Rockies 3: Josh Harrison has two hits and two RBIs to lead the Pirates charge.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
