LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw looked rusty during his first major league outing in nearly nine months.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner lasted four innings Saturday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing five runs and five hits in a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels. He walked three, struck out two and threw 48 of 83 pitches for strikes before the Angels pulled out an 11-9 victory.
The club's career strikeout leader needs 30 to reach 3,000 in his illustrious career.
''It's a special thing to get to go back and pitch at Dodger Stadium,'' Kershaw said. ''Obviously, I wanted to pitch better. Need to pitch better going forward. I think there's some glimpses of my stuff being there, which is good. The problem tonight was just command. I had really bad command tonight.''
Kershaw was making his 2025 debut after recovering from offseason toe and knee surgeries. The 37-year-old left-hander gave up three runs in a 38-pitch first inning when Logan O'Hoppe delivered a two-run single and Matthew Lugo had an RBI single.
The Dodgers tied it in the bottom half before the Angels scored once in the third inning on a home run from Taylor Ward and again in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Zach Neto. Kershaw exited after four innings trailing 5-4.
''He got to a lot of two-strike counts and couldn't put hitters away, where typically that's his hallmark. When he gets count leverage, he can get a strikeout,'' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. ''Tonight, he just couldn't put guys away. The stuff overall I was excited about.''
Kershaw made his final rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday, yielding two runs on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. He threw 57 pitches over four innings.
