Kershaw starts vs M's, left off wild card roster

SEATTLE -- Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who volition commencement Sunday's regular-season finale against the Seattle Mariners, volition beryllium near disconnected manager Dave Roberts' roster for the Wild Card Series.

Prior to Sunday's contest, Roberts said Kershaw volition spell "as agelong arsenic helium can" and not beryllium shortened up arsenic a mode of managing his innings. On Wednesday, Kershaw made his archetypal alleviation quality of the play and tossed a scoreless inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

However, Kershaw returned to the rotation connected Sunday to marque the last regular-season commencement of his career. On Sept. 18, Kershaw said helium volition discontinue astatine the extremity of the season, having spent his full 18-year vocation with the Dodgers.

The 11-time All-Star and 2014 NL MVP is tied with Zack Wheat and Bill Russell for the astir years with the Dodgers successful franchise history. Kershaw won World Series championships successful 2020 and 2024.

The three-time Cy Young Award victor entered Sunday's crippled with a vocation 2.54 ERA, and with the fifth-highest Wins Above Replacement of immoderate left-handed pitcher successful Major League history. Kershaw lone trailed Hall of Famers Lefty Grove, Warren Spahn, Eddie Plank and Steve Carlton earlier making his last Sunday's start.

His 2.54 ERA is the lowest of immoderate pitcher successful the live-ball epoch since 1920, and his winning percent tops each pitchers with astatine slightest 200 victories since 1900.