On Sunday, Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner proved they are #PitchersWhoRake
By
Eric Chesterton
For how good Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner are at pitching, it is understandable that their work on the mound would overshadow their abilities at the plate. But, both are far from automatic outs at the plate. If a pitcher isn't careful against these aces, they can make him pay. During the fifth inning of Sunday's game against the Padres, Kershaw did just that with an RBI double into the right-center field gap:
Elsewhere in the Cactus League, the Giants' ace showed off the power that has carried him to 17 home runs in his Major League career in the seventh inning against the Rockies.
Perhaps Kershaw and Bumgarner were out to show that Shohei Ohtani isn't the only dual-threat pitcher in the state of California. In addition to their contributions with the bat, Kershaw pitched five shutout innings with eight strikeouts while Bumgarner struck out five in six shutout innings. Not bad afternoons for the Dodgers and Giants aces. Not bad at all.