"I made some dumb mistakes" - Clayton Kershaw reflects on his outing during Dodgers 6-2 loss against Phillies

Clayton Kershaw started his third game of the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they squared off against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday. As compared to his first two starts, where he was shaky, last night's outing was comparatively good, with Kershaw pitching 4.2 innings and allowing one run on five hits and striking out five hitters.

After the game, Kershaw reflected on his outing during an interaction with Dodger reporter Kirsten Watson in the team's locker room. He wasn't completely impressed with his pitching but said it was a good step toward reaching there.

"Really, this one tonight felt pretty good overall," Kershaw said. "I just made some dumb mistakes, you know, a couple of guys got on base with an 0-2 count, which shouldn't happen, so that was frustrating. But overall, I think it's another good step in the right direction.

"Now I just need to figure out how to maintain my pitch count. Obviously, my pitch count will keep getting higher, but I need to find a way to get through at least five, hopefully six or seven innings at some point. I'm just fine-tuning everything, but there were definitely some good parts of it tonight."

When Kershaw exited the game, the Phillies had just scored one run. However, they added six runs in the sixth and two more in the ninth to take a convincing 6-2 win on the road.

Clayton Kershaw talks about points of improvement that he is looking to rectify

MLB: Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers (Source: Imagn)

For someone like Clayton Kershaw, the standards are obviously going to be higher. After 17 years on the major league mound, this could be one of those few times where fans have seen Kershaw struggle.

Before Tuesday's game, manager Dave Roberts mentioned some changes in his pitching style, to which Kershaw said:

"I think overall my stuff was a little better tonight, just a little crisper. I really just had better fastball location, which was probably the biggest thing. I was able to put it where I needed to for the most part. There were still some mistakes and a few pitches I want back, but overall, it was a good building block."

Clayton Kershaw also mentioned that the idea was to go deeper tonight, but his getting into jams in the fourth and fifth forced Roberts' hand to change him after 81 pitches.

Coming into this game, the southpaw's legendary streak of 423 regular season starts with at least a strikeout was broken in his last start against the San Diego Padres. He pitched 3.2 innings for seven runs (three earned), walking two but giving up no punches.

The future Hall of Famer underwent shoulder surgery in November in his bid to return this season. He signed a two-year, $10 million contract to return to the Dodgers.

After missing the entire first half of the season, Clayton Kershaw made his emotional return on July 25. As he looks forward to improving on the mound, the Dodgers would want him to be at his peak before the postseason hits.