The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are one of baseball's fiercest rivalries today. Well, among the fans, anyways. LA ace and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw again took the high road when asked about the Padres' infamous scoreboard meme mockery after a May 5th Dodgers loss.

“If you don't like it, you just got to pitch better,” Kershaw told teammate Mookie Betts on the On Base podcast, via Bleacher Report. “And I know it never comes from our peers, it's coming from somebody who runs the Jumbotron. That got pretty viral. People were mad, so I appreciate that, thank you guys.”

Fernando Tatis Jr. was all over Kershaw in San Diego's 5-2 victory, blasting two home runs for three RBIs. After the final out was recorded, Petco Park ‘s scoreboard displayed an image of the Dodgers southpaw with animated tears rolling down his face. Such taunting would probably not have been possible before the Padres vanquished their foe in the 2022 National League Division Series.

This is a new year, though, and since the Kershaw mockery, the two teams have gone in very different directions. The Padres have lost five straight games to the Dodgers and are currently in fourth place in the NL West with a disappointing 20-25 record. They have the time and talent to turn that start around, but red-hot LA (29-17, first place) has a grip on this rivalry right now.

Although he did not vocalize it, Clayton Kershaw is probably relishing the next opportunity he gets to silence the opposing fan base. The 35-year-old continues to escape Father Time with a 2.52 ERA and 63 strikeouts in nine starts this season.

Meanwhile, the Padres wish they could escape that meme.