Dodgers own Padres with sweep, pick up Clayton Kershaw after his mother's passing

Whenever you publicly take a shot at a future Hall of Famer, you better be able to back it up. The San Diego Padres learned that the hard way 10 days ago when they defeated Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After that victory, the folks at Petco Park put up a crying Kershaw meme on the jumbotron, which was one of the most outlandish ballpark stunts baseball fans ever experienced.

Since that day? The Padres are 0-5 against the Dodgers and have dropped to 19-22 (seven games back of the NL West lead). Perhaps the most meaningful victory over the division rival came on Mother's Day, as LA completed the sweep over SD and picked up Kershaw after his mother had passed away the day prior.

Kershaw didn't pitch in this series but is scheduled to make his next start on Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins, per manager Dave Roberts. Nice of his teammates to handle the heavy lifting and ensure the Padres remain below .500.

It was a tough Mother's Day for the Dodgers legend, whose wife, Ellen, revealed the news during the dedication of a refurbished youth baseball field in Inglewood, CA, on behalf of their charity foundation, but the mother's age and cause of death still aren't known.

Dodgers sweep Padres, Clayton Kershaw mourns loss of mother

Kershaw could be placed on the bereavement list after his Tuesday start and declined to speak to the media about his mother's passing on Sunday. Kershaw was raised by his mom after his parents divorced when he was 10 years old.

Here's Ellen Kershaw's speech from Saturday:

As Ellen described, Kershaw's mom was integral in his growth as a man and baseball player with her unrelenting love and support.

In following baseball and her son's path so closely, she probably wouldn't have considered Dodgers vs. Padres a true "rivalry" given how LA has handled SD over the years, minus last year's NLDS loss.

Don't tempt the baseball gods is right, especially now that Ms. Marianne Tombaugh might be rubbing shoulders with them upstairs.