Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a pair of home runs off Clayton Kershaw in the San Diego Padres' 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday night. Not only did Tatis Jr. lead the Padres to a key NL West victory, but he set an impressive record while doing so.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is now the only player who has hit two home runs off Clayton Kershaw in the same game on multiple occasions. The Padres' star also accomplished the feat on April 23, 2021 when his two homers off Kershaw lifted San Diego to a 6-1 win over the Dodgers.
Padres ace Yu Darvish beat Kershaw in both of Tatis Jr.'s multi-homer games.
Since returning from his suspension for violating MLB's performance-enhancing drug policy, Tatis has four home runs in 13 games. The Padres' right fielder has hit .267/.302/.500 during his return. Tatis missed the entirety of the 2022 season because of the suspension and an injury.
The loss dropped Kershaw to 5-2 for the 2023 season. Kershaw leads all Dodgers' starting pitchers with a 2.53 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 42.2 innings.
The weekend series could ultimately loom large for the NL West race. Because of MLB's new balanced schedule, the Dodgers and Padres will only face off 13 times during the regular season.
Los Angeles has a one-game lead over San Diego for first place in the division. The Arizona Diamondbacks are sandwiched in between the two clubs, trailing the Dodgers by a half-game for the NL West lead.
The Padres' win Friday ended a six-game winning streak for the Dodgers that put Los Angeles atop the division.
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