Kershaw struck out Devers with a 143.2km fastball in 4 ⅓ innings and made the career finale
Sep 20, 2025
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Kershaw started the home game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on the 20th (Korea time), gave up four hits and four walks in four ⅓ innings, allowed two runs, and then went down the mound after one hit in the fifth inning, trailing 1-2. He struck out six.
The number of pitches was 91, and the fastball speed was up to 90.2 miles and an average of 89.1 miles.
Kershaw, who took the mound in the top of the first inning at the start of the game, raised his hand to the standing ovation of both teams and 50,000 home fans and made a gesture to focus on the game quickly.
But it didn't start well. He allowed a home run to leadoff right-handed hitter Eliot Ramos. Throwing an 85.9-mile slider in a two-strike advantageous count, he was struck by a cannon that flew well over the left-center fence. It should have been lured to a lower course, but it was a real throw that fell into the middle. The distance is 431 feet.
Kershaw, who then struck out Willy Adames with three pitches, allowed Rafael Devers to walk and then induced Matt Chapman to ground out, but third baseman Kique Hernandez made a catch-and-miss error, putting him on the verge of a one-out, first and second base. However, Kershaw ended the inning by striking out Wilmer Flores with a 71-mile curve and catching Casey Schmidt with a fly to right field.
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With the Dodgers tying the game 1-1 with Miguel Rojas' home run in the bottom of the second inning, Kershaw gave up another run in the third inning. Kershaw, who struck out the leader Devers with a swing and miss, gave up a double to Chapman in the middle and was hit by Flores and lost the lead 2-1 again.
Kershaw, who gave Schmidt a walk at the end of the ninth pitch, then blocked additional runs by inducing Encarnacion to play a shortstop double play with a fastball in the middle of 89.8 miles.
In the fourth inning, he gave up a right-center hit to the leadoff Bailey, then struck out Gilbert with a fly to second base, Ramos with a fly ball to center field, and Adames swinging. Against Adames, he lowered his 86.3-mile slider low after a close game going up to nine pitches to induce a swing and miss.
Kershaw, who also took the mound in the fifth inning, trailing 1-2, silenced the lead-off left-handed hitter Devers with a fastball 89 miles (143.2 kilometers) lower on the fifth pitch in the ball count of 2B2S. And manager Dave Roberts went up to the mound. Timing for replacement. Kershaw, who shook hands with his teammates one by one and went down the mound, returned the fans' curtain call, and his wife Ellen, who was watching, shed tears.
Kershaw officially announced his retirement ahead of the game against San Francisco the day before. At his retirement press conference, he `Now I'm going to quit. I'm retiring. We've talked a lot in the meantime. I feel at ease. It's time to quit now." "This year has been a great season. I had a great season with my colleagues. I can't think of a better season. I still have a lot of work to do over the next month, but I don't want to be a nuisance to anyone to achieve that goal of us winning the last game of the season."
This ended Kershaw's final major league season with 21 games, 106 ⅓ innings and a 3.55 ERA. He pitched 2,849 innings in a total of 453 games in the 18th season of the Major League pennant race, recording an ERA of 2.54 and 3045 strikeouts.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
