Clayton Kershaw soaks in the applause in his last regular-season start at Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw pitched the final regular-season home game of his 18-year career with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, welcomed and sent off with standing ovations a day after announcing his decision to retire at season's end.

Kershaw's longtime warmup song, “We Are Young" by Fun, blared as fans held up camera phones to capture the moment as the game began and he took the field by himself at first. The cheers quickly turned to boos when San Francisco Giants leadoff hitter Heliot Ramos turned on an 86-mph slider for a 431-foot home run.

“I was grinding out there, working way too hard to get people out,” he said.

But the cheers returned after Rafael Devers took a called third strike leading off the fifth. Manager Dave Roberts came to the mound and hugged Kershaw as his teammates on the field, in the dugout and in the bullpen joined the sellout crowd of 53,037 in applauding the 37-year-old left-hander as he departed.

Kershaw kept the ball and got no argument from Roberts.

“I said, ‘You can do whatever you want, it’s your night,'" the manager said.

Kershaw left with the Dodgers trailing 2-1. He gave up two runs and four hits, struck out six and walked four in 4 1/3 innings on 91 pitches, 56 for strikes.

“It wasn’t his best,” Roberts said, “but like he does, he just finds ways to compete, get outs and put us in a position to win a ballgame.”

The defending World Series champion Dodgers rallied for a 6-3 victory to clinch their 13th consecutive postseason berth.

“We got a win, we clinched a playoff berth, I got to sit on that mountain one last time,” he said. “I just can't be more grateful.”

Kershaw waved as he walked off, blew a kiss toward his family and then wrapped his arms around himself in a hugging gesture to the crowd. Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani stepped forward to hug Kershaw, one of many he received from everyone in the dugout. With fans clamoring, Kershaw came out for a curtain call, slowly turning around and soaking in the scene.

“I wouldn't change it," he said. “Perfect night.”

Fans donned No. 22 jerseys in a salute to Kershaw, although Ohtani’s No. 17 was prominent as usual.

Kershaw was surrounded by teammates, his pregnant wife Ellen, who was in tears, their four children, friends and fans who've watched him work his way through the Dodgers' farm system to reach the majors at age 20 and go on to win three Cy Young Awards as well as two World Series championships and throw a no-hitter in 2014.

“Having things to celebrate is only as good as the people you have to celebrate with,” he said.

Also on hand were former teammate Russell Martin, who caught Kershaw's major league debut in 2008, and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was Kershaw's high school football teammate in Texas.

“This is one of those moments that people are going to look back and go, ‘I was there for the last time he started a home game at Dodger Stadium,’” Roberts said before the game.

Kershaw, a Dallas native who lives there in the offseason, has spent his entire 18-year career in Los Angeles.

“In a world that people take the easy way out, chase short money, the grass is greener kind of adage, the loyalty part of it is just not what it used to be,” Roberts said. “Clayton lives by those values and it means something for him to wear the same uniform. That’s where I gained a lot of respect for him.”

Among Kershaw's milestone moments in the city was reaching 3,000 career strikeouts in July.

The Dodgers added a Kershaw bobblehead to their promotional schedule in July after he reached the milestone and the item will be given out Saturday. He will address the fans before Sunday's game.

“Everybody who is just a fan is going to wrap their arms around Clayton Kershaw,” teammate Freddie Freeman said. “He deserves everything he’s going to get from the fans.”

While his velocity has dipped in recent years, Kershaw's famed competitive fire still burns brightly.

“Winning is always my favorite thing,” he said.

Kershaw has battled injuries in recent years that made getting to this point all the harder. He missed the entire postseason last year, when the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

“Not a lot of people get this opportunity,” he said, “so I’m just super grateful for it.”

Kershaw said he would make another start next week in Seattle, where the Dodgers end the regular season.

This story has been updated to correct that this will be Kershaw’s last home start in the regular season, not his last regular-season start overall.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

CORRECTS FROM FOURTH INNING TO FIFTH - Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) tips his cap after being removed during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw, left, hugs manager Dave Roberts, center, after being removed during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw waves toward the stands before a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) tips his cap after being removed during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman, left, listens as pitcher Clayton Kershaw speaks to the media after announcing his retirement at the end of the season prior to a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw wipes his face as he speaks to the media after announcing his retirement at the end of the season prior to a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw, center, congratulates members of his team after the Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants in a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — A New York prison guard who failed to intervene as he watched an inmate being beaten to death should be convicted of manslaughter, a prosecutor told a jury Thursday in the final trial of correctional officers whose pummeling, recorded by body-cameras, provoked outrage.

“For seven minutes — seven gut-churning, nauseating, disgusting minutes — he stood in that room close enough to touch him and he did nothing,” special prosecutor William Fitzpatrick told jurors during closing arguments. The jury began deliberating Thursday afternoon.

Former corrections officer Michael Fisher, 55, is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Robert Brooks, who was beaten by guards upon his arrival at Marcy Correctional Facility on the night of Dec. 9, 2024, his agony recorded silently on the guards' body cameras.

Fisher’s attorney, Scott Iseman, said his client entered the infirmary after the beating began and could not have known the extent of his injuries.

Fisher was among 10 guards indicted in February. Three more agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges in return for cooperating with prosecutors. Of the 10 officers indicted in February, six pleaded guilty to manslaughter or lesser charges. Four rejected plea deals. One was convicted of murder, and two were acquitted in the first trial last fall.

Fisher, standing alone, is the last of the guards to face a jury.

The trial closes a chapter in a high-profile case led to reforms in New York's prisons. But advocates say the prisons remain plagued by understaffing and other problems, especially since a wildcat strike by guards last year.

Officials took action amid outrage over the images of the guards beating the 43-year-old Black man in the prison's infirmary. Officers could be seen striking Brooks in the chest with a shoe, lifting him by the neck and dropping him.

Video shown to the jury during closing arguments Thursday indicates Fisher stood by the doorway and didn't intervene.

“Did Michael Fisher recklessly cause the death of Robert Brooks? Of course he did. Not by himself. He had plenty of other helpers,” said Fitzpatrick, the Onondaga County district attorney.

Iseman asked jurors looking at the footage to consider what Fisher could have known at the time “without the benefit of 2020 hindsight.”

“Michael Fisher did not have a rewind button. He did not have the ability to enhance. He did not have the ability to pause. He did not have the ability to get a different perspective of what was happening in the room,” Iseman said.

Even before Brooks' death, critics claimed the prison system was beset by problems that included brutality, overworked staff and inconsistent services. By the time criminal indictments were unsealed in February, the system was reeling from an illegal three-week wildcat strike by corrections officers who were upset over working conditions. Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed National Guard troops to maintain operations. More than 2,000 guards were fired.

Prison deaths during the strike included Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at Mid-State Correctional Facility, which is across the road from the Marcy prison. 10 other guards were indicted in Nantwi's death in April, including two charged with murder.

There are still about 3,000 National Guard members serving the state prison system, according to state officials.

“The absence of staff in critical positions is affecting literally every aspect of prison operations. And I think the experience for incarcerated people is neglect,” Jennifer Scaife, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, an independent monitoring group, said on the eve of Fisher's trial.

Hochul last month announced a broad reform agreement with lawmakers that includes a requirement that cameras be installed in all facilities and that video recordings related to deaths behind bars be promptly released to state investigators.

The state also lowered the hiring age for correction officers from 21 to 18 years of age.

FILE - This image provided by the New York State Attorney General office shows body camera footage of correction officers beating a handcuffed man, Robert Brooks, at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, N.Y., Dec. 9, 2024. (New York State Attorney General office via AP, File)