In five days Clayton Kershaw will take the ball for his seventh straight Opening Day start. Somewhere, Vicente Padilla is smiling. But first, Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers take on Hideki Iwakuma and the Seattle Mariners.
Kershaw’s last start against the Mariners didn’t quite go to plan. He allowed three home runs, which was the first game in which he’s surrendered three long balls since 2013. Kershaw is only scheduled to go three innings, giving him some rest before Opening Day.
On the spring he’s 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA, 28 strikeouts and has thrown 21 innings over six starts.