After the Rockies were officially eliminated tonight, the Dodgers announced that Clayton Kershaw would not start tomorrow's series finale in Colorado. Carlos Monasterios will start instead of Kershaw. Manager Joe Torre said of Kershaw, "He's pitched enough innings," per a tweet from Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
Kershaw, who has pitched a career-high 204 1/3 innings this season, is done for the season. He might not be the only Dodger starting pitcher adjusting his schedule this week. Hiroki Kuroda, who started and pitched 6 1/3 innings tonight, was originally scheduled to start the final game of the season, on Sunday at Dodger Stadium against Arizona. However, per Hernandez:
Kuroda's scheduled start in the series finale isn't set in stone. The decision is Kuroda's. "I have to see how my body feels," he said.
Kuroda has 196 1/3 innings pitched this season, the most in his three-year career, and he has said this month that one of his goals was to pitch 200 innings. Perhaps Kuroda would start Sunday if he feels up to it, then depart once he pitches the required 3 2/3 innings to reach his goal.