LOS ANGELES — You can’t spell Kershaw without a K. A total of 3,000 of them to be exact.
Clayton Kershaw became the 20th major league pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts when he sat down the Chicago White Sox’s Vinny Capra to end the top of the sixth inning on Wednesday night.
The milestone strikeout came with an 85 mph slider on a 1-and-2 count as Capra struck out looking. It was Kershaw’s final batter and the 100th pitch of a six-inning outing.
With a sellout crowd in full roar from the very first strike, Kershaw sat down former teammate Miguel Vargas for his first strikeout in the fourth inning, then got Lenyn Sosa for the final out of the top of the fifth.
Kershaw entered the six tied for his season high at 92 pitches and got Capra looking on his 100th pitch. The Dodgers trailed 4-2 at the time.
Already headed for the Hall of Fame when his playing days are done, Kershaw’s 3,000 milestone goes on a sparkling resume that includes a National League MVP award in 2014, and NL Cy Young honors in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
The two-time World Series champion is a 10-time All-Star, who also holds the Dodgers’ franchise record for strikeouts.
“I think I can speak for everyone, we’re kind of waiting in anticipation. chance for history,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “It’s the last box for Clayton to check in his tremendous career.
“To potentially be able to do it at home in front of our fans, I think we’re all looking forward to that. He’s never been a person to look for kind of acknowledgement or attention, but he’s earned that whether he likes it or not.”
Kershaw’s first career strikeout came in his May 25, 2008, debut at home against the St. Louis Cardinals when he set down Skip Schumacher swinging on four pitches to open the game.
His 1,000th strikeout came at home against the San Diego Padres’ Yonder Alonso on April 17, 2013. No. 2,000 came on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jonathan Villar exactly eight years to the day on June 2, 2018.
Kershaw’s lone no-hitter also came at Dodger Stadium on June 18, 2014, against the Colorado Rockies when he had 15 strikeouts.
“He’s at mile 26 and there’s point-2 left and he’s like, ‘I see the finish line,’” Roberts said about Kershaw reaching 3,000. “As far as his career, this is the last box. He’s won two championships, and he wants this. He wants to finish this marathon.”
Kershaw, 37, joins the San Francisco Giants’ Justin Verlander (3,468) and the Toronto Blue Jays’ Max Scherzer (3,412) as the only active pitchers with 3,000. Kershaw is just the fourth left-hander in the 3,000-K club.
Kershaw is making history at a time when he’s provided much-needed stability for the Dodgers’ pitching staff, which has been decimated by injuries this season.
“It’s just again a reminder for me, for anyone, to never bet against that guy,” Roberts said. “It doesn’t matter – health, stuff – he’s going to will himself to doing whatever the team needs.”
Kershaw has 216 career wins, which is tied with Scherzer for second among active players behind Verlander’s 262.
Age and less dominant stuff have changed the way Kershaw does his job. He knows his consistency isn’t the same but with the depth of the team’s staff, he doesn’t need to be perfect every outing.
Kershaw no longer overpowers hitters the way he did during the height of his career, but he remains stubbornly determined and possesses a craftiness honed over 18 seasons as well as a slider that can still fool.
“I’ve seen him grow more than any player,” Roberts said. “Hasn’t lost the compete, but I think that the world is not as black and white as he used to see it. I think that his edges are softer, I think that fatherhood, Father Time, does that to a person.”
In his prime from 2010 to 2015, Kershaw led the National League in ERA five times, in strikeouts three times and wins twice.
Kershaw had one of the best seasons ever in 2014, when he finished with a 21-3 record, 1.77 ERA and 233 strikeouts to win both the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player in the National League.
This season, the Texas-born Kershaw tied the franchise record for most seasons in Dodger blue, joining outfielder Zack Wheat and shortstop Bill Russell.
Kershaw’s wife, Ellen, and their children Cali, Charley, Cooper and Chance will be on hand. The couple recently announced she is expecting their fifth child.
“He’s just such a great person, great father, great husband, a man of faith, great Dodger,” Roberts said, “arguably one of the greatest of all time.”
More to come on this story.
3,000 STRIKEOUT CLUB
Nolan Ryan – 5,714
Randy Johnson – 4,875
Roger Clemens – 4,672
Steve Carlton – 4,136
Bert Blyleven – 3,701
Tom Seaver – 3,640
Don Sutton – 3,574
Gaylord Perry – 3,534
Walter Johnson – 3,509
x- Justin Verlander – 3,468
x-Max Scherzer – 3,412
Greg Maddux – 3,371
Phil Niekro – 3,342
Ferguson Jenkins – 3,192
Pedro Martinez – 3,154
Bob Gibson – 3,117
Curt Schilling – 3,116
CC Sabathia — 3,093
John Smoltz – 3,084
x-Clayton Kershaw – 3,000
x = active