Sports
Clayton Kershaw returns, Shohei Ohtani homers, Dodgers grab series win over Giants
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was hardly dominant in a 6-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a sun-baked crowd of 52,291 in Chavez Ravine on Thursday, his first game back from the November shoulder surgery that sidelined him for the first four months of the season.
In fact, the 36-year-old left-hander described a start in which he gave up two runs and six hits in four innings, striking out six and walking two, as just “OK.”
But it was more than OK for the Dodgers, who aren’t expecting the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner to regain his 2014 NL most-valuable-player form but need him to pitch well enough to shore up an injury-ravaged rotation as they push toward another division title.
“He’s probably not happy he gave up some runs, but I thought his stuff looked good,” catcher Austin Barnes said. “I thought he was able to move the ball around and keep hitters off-balance. His fastball had that jump on it, that life. He probably wasn’t happy with some of the fastball locations, but I think his whole mix was pretty good.”
Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw makes his season debut against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium Thursday.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Kershaw threw 72 pitches, 47 for strikes. His four-seam fastball averaged 90.6 mph and topped out at 91.8 mph. He used his 86.6-mph slider to finish four of his six strikeouts. He threw some good looping curves and even mixed in six changeups, a pitch he has struggled to command in the past. He induced 14 swinging strikes.
“I was looking at the stuff and the arm speed, the hand speed, and that’s something he maintained for all of his pitches,” Roberts said. “When he starts to lose that, the slider isn’t sharp, the curveball doesn’t get there, and there’s a loss of fastball velocity, but today, it held. For me, that was a big positive. It shows that he’s strong, he’s healthy.”
A 32-pitch third inning, in which Kershaw gave up two runs but struck out three straight batters with runners on first and second, prevented Kershaw from pitching the fifth, and six relievers — Joe Kelly, Daniel Hudson, Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen and Brent Honeywell — had to cover the final five innings.
But Kershaw gave the Dodgers a chance to win for the sixth time in seven games, which they did when Nick Ahmed, the veteran shortstop who was signed on Wednesday to replace the injured Miguel Rojas, and Shohei Ohtani hit back-to-back home runs off submarine-throwing right-hander Tyler Rogers to snap a 4-4 tie in the eighth.
Ahmed, who was released by the Giants on July 10, drove a 2-and-2 sinker 396 feet to center field for his second homer of the season.
“That was big — we needed it,” Roberts said. “To have essentially a Gold Glove shortstop fall in our lap, and we lose [utility man] Chris Taylor [to a left-groin strain] the same night we acquire him, and for him to hit the go-ahead homer against his old team … I’m sure that felt good for him.”
Ohtani then hit a first-pitch slider that left his bat at 112.6 mph with a launch angle of 46 degrees, producing a towering drive that seemed to hang in the air forever, his 31st homer of the season traveling only 360 feet, tied for the fourth-shortest of his career.
“I was just hoping it would stay fair,” Roberts said. “He hit like a sand wedge at 46 degrees and it went 20 rows deep. Look up the last time somebody hit a ball that far with a 46-degree launch angle. It just doesn’t happen. Those usually go 260 feet. So again, he never ceases to amaze.”
Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a solo homer in the eighth inning to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6-4.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Kiké Hernández paced a 14-hit Dodgers attack with an RBI single in the second inning, an RBI double in the fourth and a single in the fifth, Barnes had two hits, including an RBI single in the fourth, and Gavin Lux walked and scored in the second, doubled and scored in the fourth and singled in the fifth.
After taking the mound to his familiar entrance song — ”We are Young,” by Fun — Kershaw struck out Patrick Bailey with an 88-mph slider with two on to end the first inning.
He wobbled in the third, giving up a leadoff single to Jorge Soler, an RBI triple to Tyler Fitzgerald, an RBI single to Heliot Ramos and a single to Matt Chapman, the Giants taking a 2-1 lead. There were still two runners on with no outs, and the Giants were threatening to blow the game open, but Kershaw remained calm.
“He’s the same, honestly, from the start of the game to the end,” Barnes said, when asked if he saw the “old” Kershaw emerge in the jam. “I think that’s one of his better traits. He just doesn’t let off the gas. He’s the same guy. He keeps coming at you.”
Kershaw didn’t give in. He struck out Bailey with an 87-mph slider, David Villar looking at a 73-mph curve and Thairo Estrada with an 88-mph slider.
“He’s pitched in so much stress throughout his career, he just defaults to having already been there,” Roberts said. “So it’s not about your first start back. It’s not about how you feel. It’s getting an out, getting out of that inning, minimizing damage. People who have been in those kinds of battles have that to fall back on.”
Kershaw struck out Mike Yastrzemski swinging at a 74-mph curve to open the fourth. He walked Soler with two outs but got Fitzgerald to fly to right field to end the inning.
An overpowering start it wasn’t, but it was in stark contrast to Kershaw’s last game here, when he retired one of eight batters in a six-run first inning in which he gave six hits, including three doubles and a three-run homer to Gabriel Moreno, in an 11-2 loss to Arizona in the first game of the NL Division Series last Oct. 7.
“There was some stuff I can get better at, but I felt overall, the breaking balls were good,” Kershaw said. “Fastball command left a little to be desired, but for the first time back, I’ll take it.”
That Kershaw’s wife, Ellen, and four kids, and Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the surgeon who repaired his shoulder last fall, were in attendance made the afternoon all the more special for Kershaw.
“There’s a lot of people here and people back home [in Texas] that spent a lot of time with me to help me get back, so it’s really cool that a lot of people cared so much,” Kershaw said. “They spent all this time helping me get back, and they want to see me back out there so all the work isn’t for nothing.”
Kershaw, who made his major league debut as a 20-year-old in 2008, also became the first Dodgers pitcher to play in 17 different seasons, a milestone of longevity that came after a grueling, 8 ½-month rehabilitation process.
“I think there was a point before the surgery, after the surgery, where he felt, ‘Is he ever going to throw another major league pitch?’ “ Roberts said. “I think over the last few years, he’s finally realized that he’s mortal, so then there comes the appreciation of every moment.”
Pitching in
The Dodgers added depth to their rotation by signing right-hander Jordan Lyles, who spent most of this season on Kansas City’s restricted list while tending to a “personal matter,” to a minor league deal. Lyles, 33, will report to the team’s Arizona complex to build up endurance before reporting to a minor league affiliate.
Lyles struggled after signing a two-year, $17-million deal with the Royals in 2023, going 6-17 with a 6.28 ERA in 31 starts, but he was a solid back-end starter for the Baltimore Orioles in 2022, going 12-11 with a 4.42 ERA in 32 starts. He did not allow a run in five relief appearances for Kansas City this season.
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Israel’s national gymnastics team has suspended all training and team activities amid the recent Iranian counter-attack on the country following the U.S.-assisted strikes on Iran.
The Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGF) provided a statement to Fox News Digital announcing the violence has caused “unavoidable disruptions.”
“The current security situation in our region has resulted in unavoidable disruptions to our regular training schedule and has created significant uncertainty regarding the national teams’ professional plans, particularly as we are at the outset of the international season,” the statement read.
“At this time, all training activities have been temporarily suspended, pending approval from the relevant authorities to safely resume operations. Naturally, the suspension of training and the closure of airspace are causing considerable stress and concern. However, the safety and well-being of our gymnasts and professional staff remain our highest priority. We sincerely hope for safer and calmer days ahead, when we can focus solely on sport.”
A source within the team told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the gymnasts have been moving between bomb shelters since Iran’s counterstrikes began.
Israel’s gymnastics team is considered one of nation’s strongest Olympic programs alongside its Judo and sailing teams. The team is only a week removed from a successful trip at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany, where the country’s star Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal in floor gymnastics.
Now, the team will have to seek safety until the attacks are over.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to continue to shelter in place either in or near their residences as Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel.
Additionally, the embassy announced that due to the security situation, it would be closed on March 2, and did not give an estimate on when it would be reopening. The closure includes consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The embassy also said it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It noted that Ben Gurion Airport remains closed and there there are neither commercial nor charter flights operating from the airport.
On Friday, ahead of the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the embassy gave all non-essential workers permission to leave Israel, with reports that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged those looking to leave to do so as soon as possible.
Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest missile barrage landed just miles from Jerusalem.
The strikes landed in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Initial reports said four people were killed when missiles landed in a residential area on Sunday, but that death toll rose to eight, according to Israel’s national emergency service.
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Iran’s military has carried out counterattacks against Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East after a joint U.S.-Israeli strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
The strikes also killed several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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Local chapters of National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame have begun honoring the top senior football student-athletes, with the Coastal Canyon area banquet set for Sunday in Agoura.
Players are selected based on their grade-point averages and leadership skills, among other attributes, honoring the best of the best.
Such players as James Moffat from Crespi, Mateo Bilaver from Chaminade, Jacob Paisano of Hart, Diego and James Montes from Granada Hills Kennedy will represent their schools on Sunday.
The Los Angeles chapter will hold its gathering in Manhattan Beach on Friday.
Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert has taken over running the Coastal Canyon group with dozens of individual student-athletes set to be honored.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Sports
US Olympic hockey hero Jack Hughes opens up about support for women’s team amid backlash over Trump’s joke
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Team USA Olympic hockey hero Jack Hughes spoke about his support for his country’s women’s hockey team after his team was the subject of backlash for laughing at a joke by President Donald Trump about the women’s team.
During an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” Friday, Hughes opened up about his respect for the women’s team after McAfee appeared to reference the controversy by joking that Hughes and his teammates “hate” the women players.
“We are hanging out with them so much, the women’s team. We were supporting them. Like, we were at their games, they were at our games,” Hughes said.
Jack Hughes of the United States celebrates after a gold medal win during against Canadaat Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games Feb. 22, 2026, in Milan, Italy. (Elsa/Getty Images)
Hughes then appeared to address the recent criticism of his team for its response to Trump’s joke.
“Like all these people talking, how many of them watched their gold medal game? Me and Quinn Hughes were at the game. We were at the game until like overtime ended on the glass, and we were jumping up and down so excited for these girls, so excited they won,” Hughes said.
“And how many of these people watched the gold medal game, watched their semifinals game? Like 10 of the 10 of our players went to their game in the round-robin. Like, we supported them so much, and we’re so proud of them. We’re so happy that they won, and they brought a gold medal back and that, you know, I said it, the men’s and women’s team both brought gold medals back. So, just unbelievable for USA hockey.”
Hughes, who scored the game-winning overtime goal against Canada to win gold, reflected on his interaction with the player on the U.S. women’s team who did the same, Megan Keller.
“Me and her had a great moment in the cafeteria after her gold medal game. We played Slovakia the next night, and it was like a late game. And we were in the pasta line — me and Megan. They were just getting ready to go out again, and I just gave her a massive hug, and I said, ‘I’m so happy for you. I’m so proud of you,’” Hughes said.
“A couple nights later, saw her again in the [cafeteria], and we took a great picture and, uh, she just gave me a big hug and was so pumped for me as well.”
Hughes told reporters after the game the first thing he thought about when the puck went in was Keller, who scored the golden goal for the United States women’s team against Canada three days earlier.
US WOMEN’S HOCKEY GOLD MEDALIST SAYS IT’S ‘SAD’ MEN’S TEAM HAD TO APOLOGIZE FOR OLYMPICS CONTROVERSY
The controversy surrounding the men’s team stemmed from a locker room phone call between the players and Trump right after their gold medal win over Canada.
Trump told the men’s team after inviting them to Tuesday’s State of the Union address that he’d “have” to invite the women’s team, otherwise “I probably would be impeached.” The team laughed in response, prompting immense backlash.
Several mainstream media outlets penned op-eds condemning the men’s team for laughing at the joke and then visiting the White House to celebrate and Trump’s State of the Union address.
The United States’ Jack Hughes (86), who scored the winning overtime goal, celebrates after defeating Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
U.S. women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight said on Wednesday’s edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that Trump’s “distasteful joke” has “overshadow[ed]” the women’s success.
“I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke, and, unfortunately, that is overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats,” Knight said.
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“We’re just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continue to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men’s and women’s at the same time. And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke.”
Hughes’ mother, Ellen, a former Team USA player and current player development staff member, said the players only cared about “bring[ing] so much unity to a group and to a country.”
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