Clayton Kershaw passes big test in dominant rehab outing

The Los Angeles Dodgers may be getting their ace back in a matter of days.

In his first and perhaps only rehab outing, Clayton Kershaw looked like his usual dominant self on Saturday night. The 28-year-old left-hander pitched for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Dodgers’ Class-A affiliate, and required just 34 pitches to complete three innings against the Modesto Nuts.

In fact, Kershaw ws so efficient, he actually finished his tosses in the bullpen because the Dodgers didn’t want him sitting down and warming up between too many innings.

According to reports, Kershaw touched 94 mph with his fastball, but mostly sat 92-93. He finished with four strikeouts and one infield single allowed, which was quickly erased on a double play.

He spent six minutes on the hill in the first two innings… total.

Now the key will be how Kershaw’s body reacts to being back in game competition. Remember, he hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since June 26, so we’re talking about a near 10-week layoff.

“It felt good. I was able to, you know, warm up and sit in between innings, stuff that’s kind of bothered me in the past,” Kershaw said following the game. “It was definitely a good test, kind of pitch in a game-setting again, kind of have a normal game-type situation.”

That’s definitely encouraging. Assuming Kershaw gets through Sunday without a setback, it’s expected he’ll prepare to throw again on Wednesday or Thursday. When and where that takes places will also be determined by how he feels, so these next 24-48 hours could be very interesting.

Stay tuned.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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