For the first time since July 3, 35-year-old Dodgers ace and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw pitched in a major league game, having spent 38 days on the injured list for left shoulder inflammation, for which he received a cortisone injection.

The Dallas, TX native and Dodgers first round draft pick in 2006 out of Highland Park High School in Dallas made a total of 67 pitches (45 strikes), allowing one run on three hits, with no walks and four strikeouts in his 5.0-innings pitched.

“It was great to be back,” Kershaw told reporters, after his team’s 2-1 win over the NL West last place Colorado Rockies in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 45,933. “It’s no fun to sit on the sidelines. You want to be out there, you want to be part of what’s going on here, you know. You want to help your team win. So, yeah, it was a great feeling. Good to be back.”

“I’m not gonna lie, I was holding my breath a little bit, you know, throughout the outing, but it was fantastic, it really was,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his staff ace postgame. “I think that, you know, there was a little bit of searching for the slider I think in my opinion, but he wasn’t stressed all night, I thought he stayed in his delivery, rhythm all night good, and the curveball was good, and then the fastball. And so, I thought overall, him getting through five innings, the way he threw the baseball was fantastic.

“So, I think the big tell is how he comes in tomorrow. So, if he comes in tomorrow sort of a natural soreness, then we’re in a good spot,” added the Dodgers skipper.

Although Kershaw pitched the requisite five innings to qualify for the win, his teammates gave him zero run support, and one of those three hits he allowed was a 396-foot solo home run to left center field by Rockies designated hitter Elehuris Montero. As such, he exited Thursday night’s game with his team training 1-0.

Kershaw remains two wins shy of tying Dodgers Hall of Fame right-hander Don Drysdale for second on the Dodgers’ all-time win list.

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