Clayton Kershaw day by day: Nothing to show for it

Clayton Kershaw pitched quite well in both of his career June 27 starts, lasting seven innings in both games while not walking a batter. But the Dodgers have no win to show for it.

Up first was an ESPN Sunday night game against Andy Pettitte and the Yankees in 2010, the first of four career starts to date for Kershaw against the Yankees.

Kershaw cruised in this one, and didn’t allow a run until Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning, the 594th homer of A-Rod’s career. Kershaw only allowed four hits in the game.

This was the 69th game of Kershaw’s career, and his first with no walks. Nice.

In Kershaw’s first 68 career games, his walk rate was 12.2 percent. In his second 68 games, Kershaw’s walk rate plummeted nearly by half, to 6.4 percent.

Kershaw was in line for the win in this game, once up 5-0. The Dodgers led 6-2 in the ninth, when Joe Torre let Jonathan Broxton die on the vine, throwing 48 pitches on the way to an 8-6 loss in extras. The opening line of my game recap was, “I am still trying to figure out how the Dodgers lost this game.”

In 2015, Kershaw and the Dodgers were in Miami on June 27 to face the Marlins, facing future old friend Tom Koehler.

Justin Turner hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning, but the Dodgers lost the lead in the bottom of the frame thanks to two singles, a throwing error by Andre Ethier, and a wild pitch by Kershaw. Another outfield error, this one by Joc Pederson in center on a catch attempt with two outs in the second inning, giving the Marlins a third run.

After the error, Kershaw retired nine straight batters before Dee Gordon doubled and Christian Yelich singled, putting runners at the corners to start the seventh. Kershaw escaped further damage with three swinging strikeouts, keeping it a one-run affair.

From my game recap:

Kershaw ended up with nine strikeouts and no walks in his seven innings, the first time he has struck out nine or more in five straight starts.

Those three runs held up for the Marlins, giving Miami a 3-2 win.

The outings

2010: 7 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts

2015 (L, 5-6): 7 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs (1 earned run), 9 strikeouts

Up next: A single-start day