Clayton Kershaw was aiming for his 3,000th strikeout when his pitch soared, requiring just one more swing and miss to face the final batter and join an elite group as the 20th pitcher to reach this milestone. \u201cIt\u2019s a little tricky when you\u2019re actually trying to strike people out,\u201d Kershaw joked. He clinched the achievement when Chicago White Sox\u2019s Vinny Capra swung at a slider for the third strike during a six-inning finale on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made it more suspenseful than it needed to be,\u201d Kershaw admitted. \u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t pitch my best tonight. The slider was pretty poor.\u201d In his 18th season with Los Angeles, Kershaw became one of only three pitchers\u2014alongside Washington\u2019s Walter Johnson and St. Louis\u2019s Bob Gibson\u2014to amass over 3,000 strikeouts with a single team.<\/p>\n
Freddie Freeman sealed the \u2019 5-4 win by hitting a clutch single in the ninth inning, while Kershaw did not factor into the decision. The sold-out crowd of 53,536 roared as the 37-year-old lefty exited the mound after six innings. He paused, tipped his hat, and waved to his wife Eren and their four children in the stands, thanking them emotionally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel bad for Eren. I know she was nervous,\u201d Kershaw shared. \u201cI made her hang on pretty tightly in the last six innings.\u201d He later celebrated with teammates, coaches, and staff in the clubhouse, expressing gratitude for their support. \u201cIndividual awards are special, but they mean nothing without people to celebrate them with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The game was briefly delayed for tribute videos as Kershaw joined active pitchers like Justin Verlander (3,468 strikeouts) and Max Scherzer (3,412), becoming the fourth left-hander on this prestigious list. \u201cThat\u2019s an incredible group,\u201d Kershaw remarked. \u201cIt\u2019s special to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vinny Capra struck out on a slider called by umpire Jim Wolf, who is the brother of Kershaw\u2019s former teammate Randy Wolf. \u201cI wanted to make it easier,\u201d Kershaw said, \u201cbut I\u2019m glad it happened.\u201d manager Dave Roberts noted how much the team wanted Kershaw to reach this milestone at home, and praised his resilience despite pitching challenges and injuries this season.<\/p>\n
Kershaw’s journey back from knee and foot surgeries has seen him allow five runs in four innings initially, but since then, he has limited opposing batters to a .222 average. His peak years from 2010 to 2015 included leading the National League in ERA five times, three strikeout titles, and two Cy Young Awards. His extraordinary 2014 campaign earned him the MVP alongside a 21-3 record, 1.77 ERA, and 233 strikeouts.<\/p>\n
Although age has affected his dominance, Kershaw remains a smart and determined pitcher with a sharpened slider that still confuses hitters. \u201cI\u2019ve seen him grow more than any other player,\u201d said Roberts, noting how Kershaw has softened his edges while maintaining fierce competitiveness.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Fan Take: Clayton Kershaw reaching 3,000 strikeouts is a testament to his long-term excellence and dedication, cementing his legacy as one of baseball\u2019s greatest pitchers. For fans, this milestone is a powerful reminder of the sport\u2019s rich history and the perseverance needed to achieve greatness over decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Clayton Kershaw was aiming for his 3,000th strikeout when his pitch soared, requiring just one more swing and miss to face the final batter and join an elite group as the 20th pitcher to reach this milestone. \u201cIt\u2019s a little tricky when you\u2019re actually trying to strike people out,\u201d Kershaw joked. He clinched the achievement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[16],"class_list":{"0":"post-10613","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-baseball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}