Kershaw rips Cardinals for pregame video: 'Bush league'
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw didn't appreciate the St. Louis Cardinals using his past failures as pregame hype material ahead of his start Sunday at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals showed Matt Adams' three-run home run off Kershaw from Game 4 of the 2014 NLCS on their stadium video board in an attempt to dig up old memories.
"I think it's a little bush league, but I don't expect anything less from these guys," Kershaw said, according to MLB.com's John Denton. "So, it's no worries."
Many consider Adams' home run as the lowest point in Kershaw's complicated playoff resume, which includes plenty of early-career struggles but also two World Series championships.
The 37-year-old lefty responded to the pregame trolling with his best start of the season. He struck out seven Cardinals across five innings pitched while holding them to just one run.
Los Angeles rode his strong performance to a decisive 7-3 victory.
Kershaw, now in his 18th campaign with the Dodgers, made his season debut May 17. He spent the first month-and-a-half of the year on the injured list while recovering from offseason surgeries to his knee and toe.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner is 17 strikeouts away from reaching 3,000 for his career.