MILWAUKEE _ Clayton Kershaw reached the milestone just past 5:41 p.m. local time at Miller Park, a moment after releasing a 94-mph fastball from his left hand. The pitch soared up and away from Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Jonathan Villar. The location did not deter Villar, who flailed at the ball and only touched the air. Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal fed the baseball to a ballboy to preserve the memento from the 2,000th strikeout of Kershaw's career.
Kershaw did not celebrate the achievement. He grabbed another baseball and returned to work.
In a 2-1 victory over Milwaukee in 12 innings, Kershaw operated like a man in hurry to reach 3,000 strikeouts. But he exited forlorn and furious after allowing a solo homer to Brewers outfielder Domingo Santana in the seventh inning.
Kershaw struck out a season's best 14 batters. But he could not miss the barrel of Santana, who went deep with two outs in a scoreless game. The run nearly held up thanks to eight dominant innings from Milwaukee starter Jimmy Nelson.
Then came the ninth. Grandal tied the game with a homer off Brewers reliever Corey Knebel. The blast pushed the game into extras. In the 12th, Cody Bellinger launched a homer off reliever Neftali Feliz to break the tie. The pitching staff strung together a historic night, setting a franchise record for strikeouts in one game with 26.
Only 79 pitches in the sport's history have accumulated 2,000 strikeouts or more. Kershaw reached the mark in the third-fastest time, a span of 1,838 innings. Only Pedro Martinez (1,715 1/3 innings) and Randy Johnson (1,734) got there faster.
The evening started with stress. On his first pitch of the game, a 93-mph inside fastball, Kershaw whipped his head around to watch a double by Brewers outfielder Keon Broxton. Kershaw walked the next batter, former Korean Baseball Organization star Eric Thames, on a questionable full-count fastball. Then Kershaw fell behind in the count to first baseman Jesus Aguilar.
A pair of sliders fooled Aguilar for a crucial strikeout. After a first-pitch pop-up, Kershaw fanned outfielder Domingo Santana with a curveball to strand both runners. From there, he locked into a groove.
To open the second, Kershaw spotted an 0-2 fastball on the outer edge of the plate against catcher Manny Pina. He reached 2,000 in the next at-bat. In the third, he struck out the side in only 12 pitches.
The distance from the plate to the mound spans 60 feet and six inches. When Aguilar returned to bat in the fourth, Kershaw spiked a curveball that bounced after only about 55 feet. Aguilar could not check his swing. The strikeout padded Kershaw's resume should he ever transition to cricket.
Kershaw racked up four more strikeouts, all looking, in the fourth, fifth and sixth. He had retired 20 batters in a row when Santana came up in the seventh. Kershaw tried a 1-0 fastball. The pitch was supposed to cuff Santana on the hands. It leaked a few inches away from its target. Santana scorched a drive over the fence in left.
Upon impact, Kershaw covered his head with his hands and crumpled into a crouch. His fury was palpable. It would take a few innings, but his teammates picked him up.
