LOS ANGELES — At first, it looked like the Giants might have a chance to spoil an emotional night for Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw, who announced Thursday that he plans to retire at the end of the 2025 campaign, received a thunderous ovation when he jogged out to the mound for the final regular-season home start of his decorated 18-year career.
His teammates hung back in the dugout to give him a chance to stand alone on the field, prompting the 37-year-old veteran to acknowledge the crowd and bask in the spotlight.
A few minutes later, those cheers were briefly silenced by a loud crack off the bat of Heliot Ramos, who launched an 0-2 slider from Kershaw out to left-center field for a leadoff home run. The Giants nicked their longtime nemesis for another run in the third, but they couldn’t hold a one-run lead after Kershaw exited the game in the fifth.
Left-hander Robbie Ray surrendered back-to-back home runs to Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts that powered the Dodgers’ four-run fifth and ultimately sank the Giants in a 6-3 loss at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
With the win, the Dodgers officially clinched a postseason berth and further crushed the Giants’ own hopes of playing into October. After dropping nine of its last 13 games, San Francisco (76-78) is now two games below .500 and four games behind the Mets for the third National League Wild Card spot with eight games left to play.
“We’re not out, so we’re just trying to get as many wins as we can,” Ramos said. “We’re still going to be aggressive. We’re still following the plan. We’re still with the same mindset and the same mission.”
No pitcher has a lower career ERA (2.10) or more strikeouts (421) against the Giants than Kershaw, but the three-time Cy Young Award winner looked a bit more human in his final two matchups against them this month. San Francisco tagged him for four runs in the first inning of his final start at Oracle Park last week and then came out swinging early again thanks to Ramos, who became the first Giant to hit a leadoff homer against the almost surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer on Friday.
“That’s a nice stat,” Ramos said. “Earlier, they told me that I’m the only one in this clubhouse that hasn’t struck out against him. I was like, ‘I guess I got him at the right time.’ It’s definitely a good highlight for my life and my career, for sure.”
The Dodgers tied the game on Miguel Rojas’ solo shot off Ray in the bottom of the second, but the Giants regained the lead after Matt Chapman doubled and scored on an RBI single by Wilmer Flores in the third.
Kershaw came back out for the fifth, but he was removed after striking out Rafael Devers looking on an 89 mph fastball that appeared to be below the zone. He departed with the Dodgers trailing, 2-1, but he received an outpouring of support from the sold-out crowd, soaking in a 3 1/2-minute ovation that ended with a curtain call.
The roars grew even louder when the Dodgers’ bats rallied to pick up Kershaw in the bottom half of the inning. Andy Pages singled and Kiké Hernández walked to put a pair of runners on with two outs for Ohtani, who got Dodger Stadium rocking by driving a 2-2 fastball on the outside corner to the opposite field for a three-run blast that flipped a one-run deficit into a 4-2 lead for Los Angeles.
“I mean, I put it on the black,” Ray said. “He put a good swing on it. If it’s not down the line, it’s probably not a homer. But he just caught it deep enough to where he was able to get it over the wall.”
“He just let it travel a bit and just kind of flicked it out there,” manager Bob Melvin said. “That was kind of the turning point in the game.”
Betts then sent Ray’s very next pitch — a 92 mph fastball down the middle — out to left-center field to cap the decisive four-run outburst for the Dodgers. Ray exited after allowing five runs on five hits — including three homers — over 4 2/3 innings, leaving the All-Star left-hander with an 8.74 ERA over his last five starts.
“It’s baseball, and it happens,” Ray said. “Not ideal. Not ideal timing. But I’ve just got to focus and be better.”
