Clayton Kershaw Sends Clear Message to ‘Bush League' Cardinals After Win

Clayton Kershaw Sends Clear Message to 'Bush League' Cardinals After Win originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Los Angeles Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw and the St. Louis Cardinals each felt like traveling back to 2014 on Sunday afternoon.
Advertisement
Kershaw, the 2014 NL MVP and Cy Young winner, triumphed in his trip down Memory Lane. The future Hall of Famer limited the Cardinals to one run and struck out seven over five innings.
Perhaps more importantly, Kershaw finally earned his first win of the season and now sits 17 strikeouts short of 3,000. The veteran lefty's strong outing came after the Cardinals showed a video of ex-Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams homering off him in the 2014 NLDS.
Although plenty of pitchers might laugh the insult off or outright dismiss it, Kershaw didn't hide his disappointment.
'I think it's a little bush league,' Kershaw told reporters, 'but I don't expect anything less from these guys. So, it's no worries.'
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton KershawJeff Curry-Imagn Images
As of publication, the Cardinals had not addressed Kershaw's comments.
Advertisement
It's rare for an opposing player to call out a team's Jumbotron graphics or videos. That didn't stop Kershaw, who moved to 12-6 with a 2.84 ERA over 23 career starts against the Cardinals, from expressing his frustration.
Kershaw got the final laugh, though, and it came at a much-needed time for the inconsistent Dodgers. Sunday's victory salvaged the final game of a three-game set and kept the Dodgers one game above both the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants in the NL West.
Related: Dodgers Trade Pitch Adds $37 Million Yankees Bust After Tony Gonsolin Injury
Related: Dodgers' Mookie Betts Sends Clear Message About Latest Position Change
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Yahoo

an hour ago

• Yahoo

Panthers Receive Unfortunate Update on Sam Bennett Future

Panthers Receive Unfortunate Update on Sam Bennett Future originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Florida Panthers are fully focused on winning the 2025 Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers. Florida is currently tied 1-1 with Edmonton in the series, as Games 3 and 4 get set to begin. Advertisement But behind the scenes, the front office of the Panthers is preparing for a massive offseason. Florida has some key free agents about to hit the market, and it could impact how the roster looks next season. One of those players is star center Sam Bennett, who has been putting together a special run in the postseason this year. Bennett has scored 13 goals and put in six assists over 19 playoff games for Florida this season. Most around the NHL believe Bennett will stay in Florida, but anytime a player hits free agency, things can get complicated. NHL insiders Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston of The Athletic hint that there is a chance Bennett departs from the Panthers this summer. "While Bennett is believed to have strong interest in signing a new deal with the Panthers, the unprecedented nature of his situation could lead to a difficult business decision in the next few weeks. The 28-year-old is fresh off his first career 50-point regular season but has shown tremendous value in the playoffs that will see him paid well beyond your typical 50-point producer.", the NHL insiders wrote. Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) reacts after scoring a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) during the second period in game two of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers ...Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images Bennett has been a massive part of the Panthers' success over the years. The team would love to keep the veteran around, but business sometimes gets in the way of things. Advertisement For now, Bennett is keen on helping this team win another title. But once the Stanley Cup Final ends, his free agency will then become very interesting. Related: Maple Leafs Gearing Up For Surprising Run at Panthers' Brad Marchand: Report This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.

Yahoo

an hour ago

• Yahoo

Arellano: Welcome to the deportation resistance, Dodgers. What's next?

For Dodgers fan, it's all about the moments on the field. Kirk Gibson's Game 1-winning World Series home run in 1988. Freddie Freeman doing the same last year. Koufax's four no-hitters. Fernandomania. Shohei Ohtani anytime he's at the plate or on the mound. Advertisement It's outside the baseball diamond where the team has usually stumbled. And right now, the team finds itself in the middle of an unforced error that they're trying to recover from. That's the best way to describe how the Boys in Blue have acted as the city emblazoned on their hats and road jerseys battles Donald Trump's toxic alphabet soup of federal agencies that have conducted immigration sweeps across Los Angeles over the past two weeks. Read more: Federal agents denied entry to Dodger Stadium parking lot: Here is what really happened They stayed quiet as rumors circulated that la migra was using the Dodger Stadium parking lot as a staging and processing area for their raids. They ignored calls for days by some fans and community leaders to issue a statement, any statement, in defense of immigrants. Advertisement After offering my my fellow Times columnist Dylan Hernández a "no comment," the team finally told our colleague Jack Harris on Wednesday that they planned to assist 'immigrant communities impacted by the recent events in Los Angeles' without offering details. Then they paused in light of Thursday's dramatic events, which saw the Dodgers dragged into a fight with the Trump administration over what actually happened when federal agents were spotted near the stadium that morning. The team posted on social media that they denied a request by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to 'access the parking lots.' 'False,' ICE blared on social media. The Department of Homeland Security chimed in to claim Customs and Border Protection agents just happened to be near the stadium gates 'unrelated to any operation or enforcement' — this, even as local television news footage showed a U.S. citizen caught earlier that morning at a Home Depot just up the 101 freeway being transferred from one unmarked vehicle to another. 'We'll get back to you soon with the timing' about how the Dodgers will help immigrants, president Stan Kasten told Harris Thursday. No, Stan. The moment is now. Federal agents stage outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on Thursday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) For decades, the Dodgers have gotten away with being the Flamin' Hot Cheetos of Major League Baseball – a corporate entity with an undue, even unhealthy following by too many Latinos. Each brand does little more than offer quick thrills to fans while taking their money, yet both have turned into markers of latinidad in Southern California à la lowriders and guayaberas. Advertisement The Dodgers have pulled this off even as they're the same franchise that refuses to put up any marker acknowledging that their home stands on the site where L.A. officials razed three barrios in the 1950s for a housing project that never materialized, then sold the land to the Dodgers for basically nothing. That didn't retire Fernando Valenzuela's number until the last years of his life. That will sell bland, overpriced tacos and micheladas at the stadium and not blink — hey, at least Flamin' Hot Cheetos are still cheap. They've put one arm around Latino fans while picking their pockets with the other for so long because they have been able to get away with it. Talks of boycotts over the years never worried executives because they knew other fans would quickly fill in any new seats. Fans booed while stadium security recently booted out attendees who brought signs to games decrying ICE, but Kasten and his crew knew no one would walk out in solidarity. All the Dodgers have to do is keep winning, stage an occasional giveaway night — wow, look! Another Valenzuela bobblehead on July 19! — or have organist Dieter Ruehle play a few bars of 'La Chona' and all is forgiven by too many too often. Sports teams have no obligation to take stances on the issues of the day and probably shouldn't. They're capitalist endeavors, not charity cases, whose stated mission is to provide bread and circuses to the masses while making as much profit as possible in the process. Social justice-minded followers too often willfully forget this. But they and the rest of us deserve to hold the Dodgers to a higher standard because that's how they have always marketed themselves. Advertisement They're the organization that broke baseball's color barrier with Jackie Robinson. That expanded the game's international reach with Valenzuela, Hideo Nomo and Chan Ho Park. That established baseball academies across Latin America and fostered a Latino fan base unlike any other in U.S. professional sports. Read more: Granderson: For Dodgers, the fight against racial injustice is driven by the past and present Besides, the Dodgers have waded into political morasses before. They played Robinson as Jim Crow still ruled the United States. They rightfully proclaimed 'Black Lives Matter' in the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020. The team in 2023 bestowed a Community Hero award to a drag troupe in the face of protests from conservative Catholics, although the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were relegated a ceremony held hours before the start of a game when the stands were nearly empty. Other immediate members of the Dodgers family heard the call to stand with L.A. early on. Valenzuela's daughter, Maria Valenzuela, told Fox 11 that her father 'would be really disappointed' with what's going on, adding, 'He pitched for every immigrant who believed they belonged.' Broadcasting Hall of Famer Jaime Jarrín decried on his Instagram account the 'injustices and heartbreak we've witnessed' and blessed all the peaceful protests that have sprung up in response, telling those who are taking to the streets: 'Do not be afraid. Stay strong. Keep showing up. Let your voice be heard.' Advertisement But the only current player who has said anything about Trump's raids — this, in a squad whose roster is chockablock with visa holders — is Kiké Hernández. The Puerto Rican-born journeyman posted on Instagram that he 'cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart." Guess his teammates are still too thrilled to have met Trump at the White House earlier this year to muster up the energy to say anything? On Friday afternoon, the Dodgers finally announced something: They would coordinate with the city of Los Angeles to commit $1 million in financial assistance to families impacted by Trump's raids, and promised aid to trusted L.A. institutions like the California Community Foundation to help in the matter. "We have heard the calls for us to take a leading role on behalf of those affected," Kasten said in a statement. That's a good start — but I hope the team sees it as just a start. Trump has already promised that the same rage he's inflicting on L.A. will soon come to Chicago and New York, cities with large immigrant populations and their own historic baseball teams. That's why the Dodgers need to summon the moral courage of their past even more and once again set an example others want to follow. Advertisement The moment is now. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

3 hours ago

Clayton Kershaw wins 3rd straight start, Miguel Rojas homers in Dodgers' 6-5 win over Nationals

LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw persevered through five tough innings to win his third consecutive start, and Miguel Rojas hit a two-run homer in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night. Kiké Hernández had two doubles and scored two runs, and Shohei Ohtani added an RBI single for the defending World Series champions. Los Angeles has won six of seven, improving to 6-2 on its 10-game homestand. Kershaw (3-0) yielded solo homers by Amed Rosario and Riley Adams, but held Washington to five hits and repeatedly escaped trouble. Tanner Scott gave up CJ Abrams' one-out homer in the ninth before finishing his 15th save. Pinch-hitter Luis García Jr. had a two-run double in the seventh for the Nationals, who opened a nine-game Southern California road trip by falling to 3-15 in June. Washington snapped an 11-game losing streak on Thursday. MacKenzie Gore (3-7) gave up a season-high six runs — five earned — seven hits and four walks while pitching into the sixth for the Nationals. He has one victory in his last 11 starts. Hernández doubled and scored in the third when Mookie Betts beat out the relay throw on a potential inning-ending double play. Betts then scored on Abrams' throwing error, and Andy Pages added an RBI single. Adams homered in the fifth, but Rojas' homer chased Gore in the sixth. Bench coach Danny Lehmann managed the Dodgers while Dave Roberts served a one-game suspension after his ejection from LA's loss to San Diego on Thursday. After García's two-out double with the bases loaded, Washington had two runners in scoring position when Nathaniel Lowe hit a tailing fly to left. Michael Conforto dove forward and made a dramatic catch. The 37-year-old Kershaw has won three straight starts for the first time since April 2023, coming through when the Dodgers' rotation is badly depleted by injuries. Los Angeles' Dustin May (4-4, 4.46 ERA) faces Washington's Jake Irvin (5-2, 4.23) on Saturday. ___