Major League Baseball

Dodgers 2, Reds 1

Published Mar. 29, 2010 12:15 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Clayton Kershaw got regular-season results in no time at all.

Kershaw struck out seven in six strong innings Sunday, getting the better of Bronson Arroyo in a matchup of No. 2 starters, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 in a game that took only two hours, 16 minutes.

``Clayton seemed really comfortable,'' manager Joe Torre said. ``He threw 99 pitches. That's pretty good. It's almost a full game.''

Kershaw will have one more spring start before he opens the season behind Vicente Padilla in the rotation. Kershaw is on schedule to start the Dodgers' home opener April 13 against Arizona. He gave up six hits on Sunday, including Wladimir Balentien's run-scoring single in the fourth inning.

The left-hander has allowed only three earned runs in 16 innings this spring.

``I think we're about as close as we're going to get to the real thing,'' Kershaw said. ``Everything feels good. It was like a regular game. I established my fastball. Going deep into the game, I used all my pitches. The last three innings, it was all coming together.''

Arroyo nearly matched him, giving up five hits in six innings with a pair of strikeouts. Blake DeWitt and Andre Ethier had RBI singles for Los Angeles.

Arroyo overcame a flare-up of carpal tunnel syndrome last spring. With the help of cortisone shots, he made it through the season and led the staff with 15 wins and 33 starts, then decided not to have surgery in the offseason. The right-hander has given up playing the guitar - his favorite hobby - and writing to avoid another flare-up.

``My hand's been good,'' he said. ``I haven't been writing or playing guitar at all, so it's been nice. I thought maybe I was going to get a cortisone shot to start the year, but I feel pretty good there, too.''

He threw 75 pitches in his six innings, which went so smoothly that he jogged to the bullpen and threw 30 more to build his stamina heading into the season.

``My command is really good,'' he said. ``I haven't felt as strong as I wanted to most times out, but I'm not too worried about that. As long as my command is there and I'm hitting my spots and changing speeds, the other one will come.''

NOTES: Dodgers C Russell Martin made the trip to Goodyear, but went across the street to Cleveland's training complex and caught seven innings in a game against the Indians' Triple-A team. Martin strained his groin on March 6 and is working back into shape. He'll catch again on Tuesday. ``We have to back him off a little,'' Torre said. ``He's caught a few days in a row.'' ... Reds closer Francisco Cordero allowed one hit in one scoreless inning. He hasn't given up a run in any of his eight appearances covering nine innings. ... CF Drew Stubbs went 1 for 4, extending his hitting streak to nine games. ... Dodgers reliever Ronald Belisario had his first day in camp after missing the first five weeks of spring because of visa problems. He disputed the Dodgers' accounts that he was late because he missed meetings to resolve his visa issues in his native Venezuela. The Dodgers have Belisario on the restricted list and will not include him on the Opening Day roster.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball