Some fans may have gotten a tiny taste of Dodger Stadium after the long winter during the Fanfest event in early February. And for anyone who missed the festivities, Sunday evening was the first opportunity for the Los Angeles faithful to get their baseball fix.

It was a perfect precursor for the baseball season that is about to start. Thursday evening will mark the Home Opener for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. However, before the 2023 season really kicks off, the Boys in Blue hosted the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the first of three games in the annual preseason Freeway Series, as it is affectionately known.

There were 37,192 in attendance to see future Hall of Fame left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw on the mound going up against some of the Halos’ best players – namely future Hall of Fame centerfielder Mike Trout and future Hall of Fame designated hitter and right-handed pitcher Shohei Ohtani.

With the pitch clock in play for the first time outside of Spring Training, the game lasted a shocking two hours and eight minutes. Kershaw was just as amazed when he addressed the media after the game.

“Yeah, how fast was that game today?” Kershaw asked rhetorically with a chuckle. “Crazy. It was nuts.”

Kershaw pitched six scoreless innings. Of the 74 pitches he threw, 51 were for strikes. And though three Angels players got hits off of him, he struck out a total of seven batters swinging, including 2023 WBC Team USA Captain Mike Trout three times.

“Overall, it was definitely better than it has been,” Kershaw answered when asked about his outing. “Slider was definitely better. I threw some bad ones too. But overall, the consistency was better with it. Got some swings and misses tonight finally on it. And fastball command was better too. So overall definitely a good step forward for me. And yeah, it’s time to go now.”

The Dallas, TX native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2006 out of Highland Park High School in Dallas also had two pitch time violations during Sunday’s matchup. All of Major League Baseball is adjusting to the new rule. Kershaw recounted what happened in his situation.

“No, I think, the one I deserved the infraction,” he said matter-of-factly. “The other one, my understanding was that with nobody on base, if I step off it’s no big deal as long as I throw the pitch within the time frame. And I stepped off and looked up and there was seven seconds, but the clock turned off. So, I think it was more of, like, the clock should have kept going. And he tried to make his best judgment and thought that I wasn’t going to make the pitch in time.

“But during the season the pitch clock should just keep running,” Kershaw continued. “He said it was kind of his judgment on that one. But I probably, I don’t think I would get an infraction during the season if I threw it that time. The other one I just didn’t see the signs. It was just hard to see for me. First night game here in a while so I got to get used to that.”

Everyone will be adjusting to the pitch clock as the season unfolds. Thus far, it has been met mostly with mixed feelings by diehard fans. Come what may, Opening Day is just around the corner, and the pitch clock is here for the foreseeable future. But as Kershaw said, “It’s time to go.”

It’s also time for Dodgers Baseball … in just three days.

Let’s go Dodgers!

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