The Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium got a distinctly hometown touch Monday when Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw was named starting pitcher for the National League.
Kershaw is a nine-time All-Star but will be making his first All-Star start when the NL faces the American League on Tuesday night. He will be opposed by left-hander Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Because we are here in Los Angeles, home of the Dodgers, you toss this around, and Clayton’s name kept coming to the forefront to start this game,” Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker, who will lead the NL squad, said, according to MLB.com.
“His reputation and what he’s meant to the game of baseball and the Los Angeles Dodgers, I think it’s just perfect that he start this game for us.”
Kershaw takes a 7-2 record with a 2.13 ERA into the game.
In his last outing, Kershaw took a perfect game into the eighth inning against the Angels in Anaheim before settling for a one-hitter over eight innings in a 9-1 Dodgers victory.
Kershaw will become just the 13th pitcher in All-Star history to start in front of his home crowd. The last one was Max Scherzer, then of the Washington Nationals, in 2018.
Meanwhile, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman was added Sunday to the National League roster for Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, giving the Dodgers a game-high-equaling six players.
Freeman replaced New York Mets outfielder Starling Marte. Marte was sidelined from last Sunday through Wednesday because of a left groin injury, but has played in three of the Mets’ last four games, missing only the first game of a doubleheader Saturday.
The All-Star selection is the sixth for Freeman, including each of the last four games. An All-Star Game was not played in 2020 due to the delayed start of the season caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Freeman leads Major League Baseball with 114 hits, is second in batting with a .321 average and doubles with 31.
The New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves also have six All-Star selections.
The Dodgers’ other All-Star selections are pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin and Tyler Anderson, outfielder Mookie Betts and shortstop Trea Turner. Betts and Turner were both elected as starters.
