This season has been one long farewell to arms for the Dodgers, who lost Tony Gonsolin to a left ankle sprain and Ryan Pepiot to a left oblique strain in March, Dustin May to a serious forearm injury and Julio Urías to a left hamstring strain in mid-May, and Noah Syndergaard and his unsightly 7.16 ERA to a blister in early June.
The one constant in this cluster of calamities, the only pitcher in the rotation to not miss a start through a haze of injuries and ineffectiveness, is the 35-year-old left-hander with a balky lower back and an elbow that gave out on him in 2021, causing him to miss three months of that season.
Clayton Kershaw took the Angel Stadium mound Tuesday night with the Dodgers reeling from a three-game weekend sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants, and the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner did what he has done so often this season, twirling a gem when his team needed it most.
