Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw 20th Ever To Reach 3,000 Strikeouts

On 15 occasions on Wednesday, Clayton Kershaw reached two strikes with an opposing hitter, and 53,536 Dodger Stadium fans rose to their feet, almost as if to propel their longtime ace to history.

By the time the sixth inning rolled around, Kershaw had accumulated just two strikeouts on the night and 2,999 for his career. It began to feel as if one of the most hallowed milestones in baseball history would happen on the road, away from the people who spent close to two decades stirring with every pitch that came out of Kershaw’s left hand.

And then it happened, at the last possible moment, with two outs in the sixth, on Kershaw’s 100th – a backdoor slider that caught the outside corner, freezing Chicago White Sox third baseman Vinny Capra and making Kershaw the 20th player ever to reach 3,000 strikeouts.

“It’s a little bit harder when you’re trying to strike people out,” Kershaw said after his Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-4, come-from-behind victory. “I never really had to do that before.”

The timing of Kershaw’s strikeout – immediately after Max Muncy suffered an injury to his left knee while applying a tag during an attempted steal of third base – allowed him a moment to savor it. Dodgers fans greeted him with a standing ovation that lasted six minutes, prompting Kershaw to acknowledge them twice. A video tribute played on the scoreboard. His teammates applauded just outside the dugout railing and dispersed hugs.

Later, it was Freddie Freeman – the man who made it a point to remind Kershaw how many strikeouts away he was from 3,000 after every start – who won the game, contributing the walk-off single that capped a three-run ninth inning.

“It was an amazing night,” said Kershaw.

Kershaw is just the fourth left-hander to reach 3,000 strikeouts, joining Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton and CC Sabathia. He is one of just three active pitchers, along with Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the two who are often lumped with him among the greatest of this generation. And he is one of just five to accumulate that many with one team, along with Walter Johnson, Bob Gibson, Carlton and John Smoltz. Among that group, only Johnson and Gibson ultimately spent an entire career with the same franchise. Kershaw says he will, too.

“I don’t know if I put a ton of stock in being with one team early on,” Kershaw said. “It’s just kind of something that happened. Over time, I think as you get older, and you appreciate one organization a little bit more, the Dodgers have stuck with me, too. It hasn’t been all roses. I know that. There’s just a lot of mutual respect, I think. I’m super grateful now, looking back. To say that I’ve spent my whole career here and I will spend my whole career here – I have a lot more appreciation for it now.”