Clayton Kershaw day by day: A battle of Claytons

July 13 is a relatively quiet day for Clayton Kershaw, with only one career start. It came eight years ago today.

The Dodgers were hosting the Padres on July 13, 2012, and Kershaw faced Clayton Richard for the first time. Despite being division mates for eight seasons, two of the only four lefty-pitching Claytons in baseball history only matched up twice.

Yasmani Grandal doubled to lead off the second inning, and two groundouts scored him. That was all Kershaw allowed in his six innings, striking out six.

From Craig Minami’s game recap: “Kershaw said he threw too many pitches tonight. Gave credit to the Padres for getting guys on base.”

But Kershaw left trailing, pinch hit for in the bottom of the sixth with the Dodgers down 1-0. That pinch-hitter, Tony Gwynn Jr, singled, then two batters later Mark Ellis homered, meaning the pitching Claytons of record were flipped.

The 2-1 score held up, giving Kershaw and the Dodgers the win.

The outing (W, 7-5): 6 IP, 6 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts

Up next: Another All-Star performance