The Los Angeles Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw took the mound for his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium on Friday, facing the San Francisco Giants in a game with significant playoff implications for both teams. Kershaw, who announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the 2025 season, entered the field to a standing ovation as fans held up phones and wore No. 22 jerseys in tribute.

However, San Francisco’s leadoff hitter Heliot Ramos immediately interrupted the moment, blasting a 431-foot solo home run on Kershaw’s third pitch to give the Giants an early 1-0 lead. Kershaw recovered to strike out two and walk one in the first inning, using 17 of his 23 pitches for strikes.

Miguel Rojas evened the score in the bottom of the second with a 402-foot solo homer to left-center, and Andy Pages followed with a double off the wall, but the Dodgers held the Giants scoreless in the top half of the second as Mookie Betts caught back-to-back pop-ups from Ramos and Willy Adames.

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Kershaw, 37, concludes an 18-year career entirely with the Dodgers, compiling a 222-96 record and 3,039 strikeouts in 2,844 ⅔ innings pitched. He has won three National League Cy Young Awards (2011, 2013, 2014), the 2014 NL MVP, and earned two World Series titles with Los Angeles in 2020 and 2024. On Friday, he became the Dodgers’ all-time strikeout leader against the Giants, recording his 417th strikeout to surpass Warren Spahn’s 416. His ERA of 2.54 and WHIP of 1.02 remain among the lowest of the live-ball era for pitchers with at least 250 starts.

Kershaw was surrounded on the field by his wife Ellen, their four children, and former teammates, including Russell Martin, AJ Pollock, and Andre Ethier.

Manager Dave Roberts noted it is too early to confirm whether Kershaw will make another start next week as the Dodgers conclude the season on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners.

The Dodgers entered the game with a 2.5-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the NL West, while the Giants trailed the New York Mets by three games in the National League wild-card race. The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot stands at six.