By Jon Weisman
The walk to David Wright in the first inning mattered not at all, except that it just brought the slightest bit of humility to the superhuman Clayton Kershaw.
The very slightest.
In his 250th career start, the magnificent Dodger left-hander set a Major League record by striking out at least 10 and walking no more than one batter, pitching his second consecutive Dodger Stadium three-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory over the Mets.
Kershaw also set an all-time Dodger record with his fifth straight game of double-digit strikeouts. In striking out 13 and walking one, his 2016 K/BB ratio actually dropped from 21.3 to 19.3, still far ahead of the existing MLB record for starting pitchers of 11.6 by Phil Hughes of the Twins in 2014.
In his past 18 innings at Dodger Stadium, Kershaw has allowed no runs on six hits with one walk and 27 strikeouts. He has 76 whiffs in 62 innings this year, with four walks and a 1.74 ERA.
“As long as you keep your pitch count down, it doesn’t matter how you’re getting outs, as long as you’re getting weak contact with outs,” Kershaw said. “I was able to get deep into the game. Strikeouts are kind of a by-product — it’s not that important in the grand scheme of things, for sure.”
On his 109th pitch of the game, Kershaw fanned Wright — meaning he had struck out the side in the ninth.
Wright’s walk with two out in the first inning ended a streak of 35 strikeouts by Kershaw since his last base on balls. But he got back on the beam with a whiff of Yoenis Cespedes, and the Dodgers followed with an explosion against Bartolo Colon.
Colon pitched a seven-hit shutout in Dave Roberts’ third career game. As a player. In 1999. But it would be a different fate tonight.
The first three batters — Chase Utley, Corey Seager and Justin Turner — all singled, giving the Dodgers a run on five pitches by the 43-year-old Colon. One out later, Yasmani Grandal, whom Dave Roberts started because he liked the matchup against Colon, blasted a 449-foot homer, putting the Dodgers ahead, 4-0.
Utley (3 for 4) homered in the second inning to help the Dodgers quickly match their second-highest offensive output at Dodger Stadium this season. Kershaw previously benefited from the Dodgers’ biggest offensive eruption of the season on the road (their 15-0 Opening Day victory at San Diego) and at home (a 7-3 win April 15 over San Francisco).
Kershaw pitched his 14th career shutout, making him the active leader in the big leagues — breaking a tie with Colon, who is nearly 15 years older.
As Eric Stephen pointed out earlier today on True Blue L.A., Sandy Koufax had 119 wins in his first 250 career starts. With tonight’s victory, Clayton Kershaw has 119 wins in his first 250 career starts.
Samuel Levin (@heathclifbar)
Minor correction: Phil Hughes was on the Twins when he set that record.
Jon Weisman
Fixed – thanks.
14hodges
Hey, Jon, in between innings during the game last night the television broadcast put up a photo taken of Sandy Koufax following his no-hitter vs. the Mets in 1962. Does this allusion to comparison count as a violation of the no mentioning the no-hitter rule? Immediately after that break, Kershaw gave up the first hit of the night for the Mets. The final score of the 1962 game was 5-0.
Jon Weisman
If they didn’t say the words, it doesn’t count in my world – but broadcasters are exempt from the rule anyway.
oldbrooklynfan
It’s amazing how Kershaw has been able, over the years, to improve on how long he stays in the game, by keeping his pitch count down and at the same time continue to get high strikeout totals.
Michael Green
And the K stands out even more than ….
Don Bright
After his last start I mistakenly replied to some fool on Twitter who claims he knows for sure Kershaw will opt out and not resign with the Dodgers because he’s upset that the Dodgers didn’t improve their pitching at the deadline last year, and that the pen isn’t playoff caliber. I went on to say that because that your opinion, and I’m not saying he was incorrect, doesn’t mean that’s why he would go elsewhere. I even told him Kershaw could always demand a trade before he’s able to opt out if he’s that disgruntled. All he could come back with it is the FO would never trade him for fear of fans revolt. Told him the fans will be just as upset if he leaves by free agency.
Not saying he won’t leave, but it won’t be for that reason.