Clayton Kershaw shuts down Marlins, lowers ERA to 1.72 - MLB

Clayton Kershaw did what you’d expect him to do against the lowly Marlins this afternoon, tossing eight shutout innings versus a lineup featuring two guys slugging above .385.

In doing so Kershaw lowered his ERA to 1.72, which would be the fourth-lowest among all pitchers with 150 or more innings since the mound was lowered in 1969:

Dwight Gooden     1985     1.53
Greg Maddux       1994     1.56
Greg Maddux       1995     1.63
CLAYTON KERSHAW   2013     1.72
Pedro Martinez    2000     1.74
Ron Guidry        1978     1.74

Also of note: Dating back to 1969 the only left-handed pitchers with 150-plus innings and a sub-2.00 ERA are Ron Guidry, Vida Blue, Wilbur Wood, John Tudor, and Steve Carlton. This is the third straight season in which Kershaw has led the National League in ERA and his career mark of 2.61 is the lowest of any starting pitcher in the post-1969 era.

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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”