BOX SCORE
LOS ANGELES — In the fifth inning Friday night, about two hours after the first pitch, Dodger Stadium started shaking. But it had nothing to do with the game being Clayton Kershaw’s final regular season start in Los Angeles.
Shortly after Kershaw departed, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts went back-to-back off Giants starter Robbie Ray. That flipped a close game and led to another NL West loss for the Giants, who are getting closer and closer to being officially eliminated from the MLB postseason race.
The 6-3 loss was the fourth in five games on this road trip through Phoenix and Los Angeles and sixth in seven games since the Giants briefly climbed into a tie for a postseason spot. They got a leadoff homer from Heliot Ramos, but after that it was another quiet night for a group that has seen its stars slump with the season on the line.
The night started with a standing ovation for Kershaw, who took the field alone and then signaled his teammates to join him as he warmed up. Before many of the 53,000 could sit down, Ramos blasted a 431-foot homer to left-center, but the Giants weren’t able to spoil Kershaw’s big night.
Heliot Ramos isn’t here for the Clayton Kershaw pageantry 😅pic.twitter.com/GrsuTLnOEx
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 20, 2025
A day after he announced that he is retiring after the season, Kershaw allowed two runs in 4 1/3 innings. He was on the hook for a loss when he departed, but Ohtani quickly changed that with a three-run blast.
Closing The Book
For years, a decade even, the Ramos homer alone would have qualified as a good day for the Giants against Kershaw. Nobody has ever been more of a Giants-killer than the future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, who made his 63rd career appearance against them on Friday night.
With his second of six strikeouts, Kershaw passed Warren Spahn for the most career strikeouts against the Giants. He finished with 421 of them in 411 2/3 innings and posted a 2.10 ERA. That’s the lowest for any pitcher in history who threw at least 150 innings against the organization.
Kershaw finished his night — and possibly his career at Dodger Stadium — by striking out Rafael Devers for a second straight time. He froze Devers with an 89 mph fastball at the knees and then hugged teammates as Dodger Stadium roared and Dave Roberts came out to get the baseball.
The Night’s Other Lefty
Ray has gotten to know Kershaw over the years, a friendship that began when they played catch together at an All-Star Game. On Thursday, shortly after Kershaw’s announcement, Ray said he was excited about pitching in what would feel like a playoff atmosphere.
For four innings, Ray looked ready to ruin the night. But he got heater-happy against Ohtani and paid for it. Ray has had good velo the last two times out and he pumped fastballs at Ohtani, who hit the fifth one into the seats in left for his 52nd homer of the year.
Ray was charged with five earned runs. He has allowed 16 earned over four starts in September.
Postseason Picture
If you are, uhh, still holding out hope … it’s not pretty.
The New York Mets used a six-run inning to blow out the Washington Nationals on Friday afternoon and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs in a homer-filled game at Great American Small Park. It shouldn’t be long now before the Giants are mathematically eliminated.
Counting the tiebreaker, they are five games behind the Mets with eight to go. The Reds are two games ahead of the Giants, so even if New York collapsed and the Giants finished strong, they would still need plenty of help. With a rough weekend, they could be eliminated as soon as Sunday.
Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast
Read the full article here