An interleague matchup between division leaders kicks off Friday night with a showdown between two of MLB’s most iconic pitchers.
Max Scherzer of the Toronto Blue Jays and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers are scheduled to go head-to-head in the opener of the three-game series in Los Angeles.
Scherzer has won 218 regular-season games during his career and seven more in the postseason. Kershaw owns 217 regular season wins and 13 more in the playoffs.
The future Hall of Famers also are the most recent additions to MLB’s 3,000-strikeout club.
“You probably aren’t going to see that very often these days,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I have a lot of respect for Max. It’ll be good to see him and, hopefully, we can have our way with him.”
Scherzer (2-1, 4.39 ERA), who missed three months with a right thumb injury, is coming off his best start of the season. He allowed one run and five hits over six innings in a 4-2 win against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
The 41-year-old is 5-5 with a 2.34 ERA in 18 appearances against the Dodgers in his career, including 16 starts.
Scherzer and Kershaw have faced off several times in their career, beginning with their first matchup on Sept. 7, 2008, when Scherzer was a rookie with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Kershaw was in his first season with the Dodgers. Neither earned the victory in Los Angeles’ 5-3 win that day, though Scherzer fanned 11 over five innings.
“I loved playing with him. I love competing against him. I have all the respect in the world for him,” Scherzer said. “We’ve been pitching for so long, you don’t know how many more chances you are going to get at this, to face somebody of his ilk. This is what you dream of, facing the best. It should be a lot of fun.”
Kershaw (5-2, 3.29 ERA) is also coming off an impressive start, blanking the Tampa Bay Rays for six innings in a 5-0 win last Friday.
“First-ballot Hall of Famer,” said Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman after that game. “He was in the pool all day yesterday with his kids, and he goes out there and throws six shutout innings. He is absolutely incredible.”
Kershaw, 37, said he had better command of his pitches than he did in his previous start on July 26 against the Boston Red Sox, when he gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings of a 4-2 loss.
“The slider was definitely better,” Kershaw said. “The last one in Boston, it wasn’t very good. I was able to throw the slider a little bit more, the curveball for strikes which is nice. Will (Smith) did a good job, identified that they were taking that early. So to be able to get ahead with that was nice.”
Kershaw has made two starts against the Blue Jays in his career and won them both, posting a 3.46 ERA in those wins.
Scherzer said the matchup deserves a lot of attention, but there’s a lot more he needs to be concerned about.
“They won the World Series last year,” Scherzer said of the Dodgers. “They’re the champs. You want a shot at the champs. You want to beat them. That’s what this game is about.”
–Field Level Media
