In an epic showdown between two baseball legends, Clayton Kershaw outdueled Max Scherzer, while Mookie Betts shined with a home run and three RBIs, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
This duel, which marked the first time in MLB history that two pitchers who faced each other as rookies with 3,000 strikeouts in their careers faced each other again, kept fans on the edge of their seats.
Kershaw and Scherzer, both with six effective innings, demonstrated their skill in front of a crowd of 53,825 spectators.
Kershaw (6-2), 37 years old, allowed one run and seven hits, striking out four batters. Scherzer (2-2), 41 years old, gave up two runs and six hits, with five strikeouts and three walks.
Kershaw improved his record to 3-1 with an ERA of 3.54 in five starts against Scherzer, including the playoffs. He is one of two starting pitchers, and the only active one, to beat Scherzer three times in his career.
Both pitchers, with three Cy Young awards each, are steering their careers towards the Hall of Fame.
Betts drove in the Dodgers to a 2-1 lead with a two-run home run against Scherzer in the fifth inning. Shohei Ohtani hit a ground-rule double, followed by Betts’ home run, which traveled 389 feet and broke a 23-game home run drought.
The Dodgers added three more runs in the seventh inning. Betts drove in the first with a groundout, and Ohtani scored when reliever Louis Varland walked Will Smith with the bases loaded. Teoscar Hernández added a sacrifice fly that allowed Betts to score.
Ohtani finished the game with three hits and two runs scored.
Daulton Varsho had three hits for the Blue Jays, who took a 1-0 lead thanks to Addison Barger’s RBI single against Kershaw in the second inning.
Toronto’s three-game winning streak came to an end in this matchup between divisional leaders.
