Down 3-1 against the Philadelphia Phillies heading into the seventh inning, Dave Roberts took sixth-inning reliever Jack Dryer out of the game in favor of handing the seventh inning to none other than Clayton Kershaw, the Los Angeles Dodgers legend who will call it a career when the season ends one way or another.
Needless to say, fans in Dodger Stadium and beyond couldn't contain their excitement.
Exiting the pen to his usual theme, “We Are Young” by the band Fun., Kershaw was afforded a hero's welcome from the fans in Elysian Park in a moment he won't soon forget.
Clayton Kershaw enters the game as a reliever pic.twitter.com/ywtrESvCkA
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 9, 2025
Facing off against five batters over the seventh inning, Kershaw gave up a single to Trea Turner and walked Kyle Schwarber before Bryce Harper lined out for the first out. From there, Kershaw got lucky when Schwarber was picked off by Will Smith, allowing Roberts to walk Alec Bohm and send Brandon Marsh to the plate. With the inning on the line, Kershaw dealt, going ball, foul, strike, ball foul, before Marsh connected on a slide down in the zone right to Freddie Freeman for the easy out. Kerhaw left the inning scoreless, fans cheered him on, and then locked in for another inning where the offense just couldn't turn hits into runs for the fourth inning in a row.
Entering the eighth inning, Kershaw did his best Ranger Suarez impression, giving up a single-run homer to JT Realmuto before walking Max Kepler. Max Muncy bobbled a routine catch that should have gotten Nick Castlanos out at first to get two men on base, only for the third baseman to make up for it on the next play, taking out Bryson Stott at first as the runners advanced.
Facing off against former teammate Turner, Kershaw gave him a 73 mph curve that added two runs off a single, only for Schwarber to bang another home run into the stands, clearing the bases on the way to an 8-1 lead. Though he surrendered no more runs in the eighth, the damage was done, and an otherwise exciting moment turned tragic in a hurry.