Dodger’s Clayton Kershaw Slams MLB’s New Extra-Inning Rule

After the Los Angeles Dodgers second extra-innings win in a row against the Arizona Diamondbacks, star pitcher Clayton Kershaw criticized the MLB’s latest extra-innings rule that they implemented this season. “It’s not real baseball,” Kershaw told reporters Wednesday after the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 6-4 in 10 innings. “But it’s fine for this year, and I hope we never do it again.”

The new rule is that during extra innings each team starts with a runner on second base with the beginning of every half-inning. Despite Kershaw’s comments, Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts said that he liked the rule. “I didn’t know how it was going to play out and how it was going to be received, but as we’ve had some runs with it, I really like it,” Roberts said. “I think it really shortens the game. It adds strategy for the fans, the managers, the players.”

MLB announced in July that the new extra-innings rule would be in place only for the regular season, not the postseason. The Dodgers own MLB’s best record at 32-12 and, with a 4½-game lead over the second-place Padres, are closing in on their eighth consecutive National League West title.