Future Dodgers Hall of Fame left-hander Clayton Kershaw didn’t throw a no-hitter on the fifth anniversary of his near-perfect game on June 18, 2014.

…but he didn’t miss by much.

On Clayton Kershaw Bobblehead Night to commemorate that historic night, the now 31-year-old Dallas, TX native and Dodgers 2006 first-round draft pick out of Highland Park High School in Highland Park, TX allowed no runs and only three hits in his seven shutout innings over the hated San Francisco Giants in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 48,219. Along the way, the 6′-4″ / 226-pound lefty walked two and struck out six en route to a 9-0 pounding of the National League West last place Giants.

“It doesn’t seem like that long ago, but when you think about all the years in between, it does seem like a long time ago,” said Kershaw of that historic night five years earlier. “Your career goes fast, just a blink of an eye and you’re an ex-baseball player, longer than you are a baseball player. I try not to think about it too much, but it seems like it does go fast.”

As for his near no-hitter on Tuesday night during which he made 100 pitches (71 for strikes), the extremely popular now father of two was pleased with his shutout performance.

“I got better as the game went on, made some OK pitches when I needed to,” Kershaw told reporters after the game. “It was a little bit of a grind tonight. Got some big plays defensively, got that early lead and tried to take care of it.

“At the end of the day you have a job to do and you’re trying to keep your team in it, and when you’re on a team as good as we are, you really don’t have to do a whole lot,” he added. “Just keep your team in it the best you can and we end up winning a lot.”

…and by a lot.

On the second pitch in the bottom of the first inning, Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson hit an opposite field home run 390 feet into the Left Field Pavilion to stake Kershaw and the Dodgers to an early 1-0 lead. As has often been the case throughout his remarkable 12-year MLB career, it would prove to be the only run the future first-ballot Hall of Famer would need.

But Pederson’s solo shot wasn’t the Dodgers only offense of the night, not by a very wide margin. By the time Kershaw was replaced in the top half of the eighth inning, every position player had at least one hit except replacement first baseman David Freese, who collected his hit in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The big blow and coup de grâce for the Giants came in the bottom of the seventh, when the Dodgers offense put up a six-spot to send their beloved ace to the showers with a comfortable 9-0 lead (and eventual final score). Dodgers pinch-hitter (for Pederson) Kiké Hernandez delivered the fatal blow to their most-hated rivals with a monster 416-foot grand slam home run halfway up the Left Field Pavilion.

With the win, Kershaw is now 7-1 with a 2.85 ERA on the season and is once again in the conversation to possibly pick up his fourth National League Cy Young award, along with fellow Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-1 / 1.26).

But don’t think for one second that the fireworks are over between these two longtime bitter rivals, who have split the first two games of the current four-game series. Game-3 on Wednesday evening will feature Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill (4-1 / 2.60) going head-to-head with Giants left-hander Drew Pomeranz (2-6 / 6.43).

However, the marquee matchup of the series will take place on Thursday evening, when Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler (7-1 / 3.06) will square off against Giants malcontent right-hander Madison Bumgarner (3-6 / 3.87) in a rematch of the now legendary “Go get it out of the ocean” game from June 9. During that contest at what is now called Oracle Park (at least as of this writing), the notorious Giants hothead yelled at Dodgers utility infielder Max Muncy for taking him deep (literally) into McCovey Cove. MadBum thought Muncy was taking too long admiring his ‘splash-hit.’

“I hit the ball and then he yelled at me,” Muncy told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo immediately after the Dodgers 1-0 shutout of the Giants. “He said ‘Don’t watch the ball, you run,’ and I just responded back ‘If you don’t want me to watch the ball, you can go get it out of the ocean.’“

Legendary indeed.

Play Ball!

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