LOS ANGELES _ He didn't fluster. He didn't fatigue. He didn't fade.
Even as Tim Locastro fouled off pitch after pitch in a third inning at-bat Thursday, spoiling wipeout sliders and looping curveballs and fastballs painted all over the corners, Clayton Kershaw only seemed to grow sharper with every throw.
On the 12th offering, Kershaw finally froze Locastro with his hardest pitch of the night, firing a 93 mph heater over the plate for strike three _ a common result during Kershaw's scoreless six inning start in the Dodgers' 5-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
With eight strikeouts Thursday, Kershaw reached two lofty career milestones. In the second inning, the 32-year-old became the third-youngest pitcher in MLB history to record 2,500 strikeouts, needing less time than all but Nolan Ryan and Walter Johnson to eclipse the milestone. Kershaw's punch out of Locastro an inning later moved him to 38th on the sport's all-time strikeout leaderboard, lifting him past early 20th century star Christy Mathewson's mark of 2,502. Kershaw stands at 2,505.
Kershaw retired nine of 10 batters to begin the game and allowed his lone hit with two outs in the sixth, when Christian Walker reached on an infield single. Kershaw's fastball averaged 91 mph, half-a-tick slower than his season average, yet led to four strikeouts and six swing-and-misses. His curveball and slider were just as effective, producing whiffs more than a fourth of the time.
Kershaw's season ERA is now a career-low 1.50, third among pitchers with at least 30 innings this season. His strikeout rate (10.25 per nine innings) is his highest since 2017. His 0.722 walks-and-hits-per-inning is the lowest of his career. After missing the opening week-and-a-half of this pandemic-shortened season with a back injury, the three-time Cy Young Award winner is starting to vault himself into discussion for a fourth.
The Dodgers' offense aided his cause Thursday. The team scored twice in the first inning, taking the lead on a Diamondbacks throwing error and doubling it on Chris Taylor's RBI single. After Dylan Floro allowed a run in the top of the seventh in relief of Kershaw, the Dodgers struck for two more runs in the bottom of the frame and one more in the eighth.
