SURPRISE - Clayton Kershaw gave his manager a scare.
Kershaw was hit in the left Achilles tendon by a hard hit ball off David Murphy's bat in the fourth inning of the Dodgers' 4-0 loss to a Rangers split squad on Saturday.
"I might be a little sore tomorrow, but it's fine," he said. "It's one of those things that will get worse if you don't do stuff and if you sit around. You might as well finish out your outing. I'll ice it (Saturday) and it should be fine."
He sure was fine on the mound, giving up two singles in six scoreless innings. The 2011 NL Cy Young Award winner struck out six and walked none. But immediately after he departed, the Rangers scored four runs off Brandon League.
Manager Don Mattingly said he is not concerned "at this point" about Kershaw's foot.
Kershaw did not allow another base runner after Murphy's hit and threw 47 strikes in 70 pitches.
"Obviously, you hate to see something like that happen, especially in a spring training game to a player of that caliber," Murphy said. "I was hoping, as much as they were, that he was fine. He looked fine after he stayed in."
Rangers left-hander Matt Harrison, an 18-game winner and All-Star selection last year, held the Dodgers to only Alfredo Amezaga's single to leadoff the game, in five innings.
Mattingly said Kershaw, who turns 25 Tuesday, looks ready to start the season.
"There are definitely some things to work on, but it's a continual, gradual improvement from the last start," Kershaw said.
"The first thing is get that fastball command to both sides and from there mix in some breaking balls for strikes. There is definitely some things I need to work on for the next couple of starts before the opener. Overall, I'm happy with the progression."
You want to feel locked in every start, regardless of when it is. Hopefully, every start you're locked in."
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