Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) throws to the Minnesota Twins in the second inning at Target Field. Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Dodgers three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw pulled after seven perfect innings

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 4/13/22

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw has accomplished nearly everything he can during his future Hall-of-Fame career, but he's never pitched a perfect game. After hurling seven perfect innings during his 2022 season debut on Wednesday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins, some fans may have thought they were going to witness history.

Being 34 years old, having well over 2,000 career innings pitched on his left arm and owning a well-documented injury history, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts elected to play it safe with Kershaw and remove him from the game after the seventh inning.

And the perfect game ends with one out in the 8th. https://t.co/J4MoysScqS
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) April 13, 2022

Boos at Target Field as Alex Vesia enters the game. Kershaw is officially out of this game.
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) April 13, 2022

In the top half of the eighth, before Kershaw was officially subbed out, Los Angeles doubled its 3-0 lead to a 6-0 margin on the strength of back-to-back-to-back home runs. While "The Claw" wasn't given the opportunity to pitch the 24th perfect game in MLB history, he does have one no-hitter to his credit, which came on June 18, 2014, against the Colorado Rockies.

With a stacked starting rotation featuring the likes of Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin and Andrew Heaney, Kershaw took the bump for the first time on Wednesday in the Dodgers' fifth game of the season. Los Angeles finished off the Twins by a 7-0 final, giving Kershaw his 186th career victory, and is now 3-2 on the year.

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