"There's a lot of things I was missing" - 10-Time All-Star Clayton Kershaw opens up on disastrous no-strikeout game against Padres

Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw reflected on a frustrating game after the Dodgers were beaten 8-1 by the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. The 10-time All-Star has struggled on the mound after returning from shoulder surgery, which saw him miss the first half of the 2024 season.

In his much-anticipated return last week against the San Francisco Giants, Kershaw pitched four innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs. His second start of the season, yesterday at Petco Park, didn't go much better, as the Padres got to him. He allowed seven hits and seven runs (three earned) as skipper Dave Roberts had to pull him out after just 3.2 innings.

"Not a lot went well at all, just gotta pitch better. There's lot of things I was missing, just wasn't executing [well], wasn't throwing anything where I wanted to, just frustrating overall," Kershaw said in a post game interaction.

Upon being asked whether he was feeling "rusty" after such a long spell on the sidelines, Kershaw added:

"Physically [i feel] good, physically I feel fine. Honestly I felt pretty good with the last one, this one obviously, was really bad. I don't think there was any rust, but maybe, I don't know. Just gotta pitch better."

Kershaw ended up leaving the pitch with no strikeouts, ending a streak of a record 423 regular-season games with at least one K. That streak was the longest since the pitching mound was moved to its current distance in 1893.

Dave Roberts' take on Kershaw's tough outing

The Dodgers came to Petco Park on the back of a series loss against the Houston Astros. The poor results have coincided with starting pitchers Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone and Clayton Kershaw all looking far from their best.

Dave Roberts' found Kershaw's command out of place as he gave his assessment to reporters in a post-game interview.

"Certainly it wasn't ideal, to say the least. I think the command wasn't there, they took some good swings on the sliders, but it wasn't as effective as his last start. I thought the curveball still played, got some soft contacts, some easy outs. Fast ball wise, the third inning was much better than the previous innings. It just wasn't great," Roberts told reporters.

"We didn't help ourselves defensively, he [Kershaw] didn't help himself defensively. That bled into our effeciency, added base runners and things like that. We just couldn't get him [Kershaw] through the fifth inning because of the pitch count," Roberts added.

Roberts also spoke about how, despite his pitcher's struggle, he fully believes in Clayton playing his way back into form soon.

"It's hard to ever bet against Clayton, the last game I thought was very good, and today wasn't great, I think he'll be the first to say that. It's part of the process, I don't think anyone can expect him to comeback and be lights out, especially after 2 starts," Roberts said.

With baseball only set to get tougher from here, Roberts will certainly be hoping his ace on the mound can soon begin to show the kind of form that earned him 10 All-Star call-ups in the past.