Kershaw Retires After Dominant Final Start

Clayton Kershaw announced his retirement and closed his 18-year regular-season career on Sept. 28 by tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in the Dodgers’ 6-1 win over the Mariners, exiting to a standing ovation. He allowed four hits and a walk, generated 16 whiffs on 94 pitches, earned his 223rd career win and finished the season 11–2 with a 3.36 ERA; his career totals include more than 3,000 strikeouts, a sub-3.00 ERA and an ERA+ that ranks among the game’s best alongside Pedro Martínez. Dodger Stadium honored Kershaw with a special display of his No. 22 and No. 54 uniforms and game-worn items, and teammates—including Freddie Freeman, who escorted him off the mound—marked the emotional exit. Manager Dave Roberts did not include Kershaw on the Dodgers’ NL Wild Card Series roster, naming Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani as the likely starters, so Kershaw would pitch again only if Los Angeles advances past the best-of-three round. The Dodgers finished the regular season 93–69 and will host the Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday against either the Cincinnati Reds or the New York Mets.