Clayton Kershaw needed to gut out six innings in order to reach 3,000 career strikeouts this week, but the manner in which he accomplished the milestone allowed for the Los Angeles Dodgers to properly celebrate the future Hall of Famer.
When Kershaw struck out Vinny Capra to end the sixth inning, he was treated to a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at Dodger Stadium. Kershaw stopped short of the dugout to gesture to his family on the loge level and he embraced teammates who had been on the field playing defense.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts then hugged Kershaw and exchanged some quick words for the pitcher he’s now been around for 10 seasons.
“It was just a culmination of he never wants to make it about his individual accomplishments, but I think we’ve been through a lot together,” Roberts said of their embrace. “I’m one of the few people in uniform that has been through it with him for quite some time.
“We have a great relationship, so that was kind of what the embrace was about.”
Prior to the game, Roberts said he would manage differently if it meant affording Kershaw an opportunity to make MLB history in front of Dodgers fans.
“I was hopeful, for sure. Obviously, you go through five innings and he has two strikeouts, pitch count is climbing up there, it was just one of those things that I was going to give him every opportunity to do it at home,” Roberts said.
“Fans showed out, from the first pitch everyone was so excited, and I wanted to give Clayton every opportunity. That was his last hitter. You could see the emotion that he had today trying to get that third strikeout. You look at the first, probably 14, 15 hitters, he got to two strikes probably 10 of them, and just couldn’t put them away.
“Just couldn’t execute that final pitch, but I think it happened the way it’s supposed to in the sense that it was the third out and we got the chance to really celebrate him. Him to take the moment, Will Venable and the White Sox, Wolf and the umpires, did a great job giving Clayton his time.
“It was a huge moment. Really happen for Clayton.”
Clayton Kershaw’s strikeouts with Dave Roberts as manager
Kershaw and Roberts have been together since the 2016 season, with the 10 years his longest tenure under one manager.
During that span, Kershaw has amassed 1,254 strikeouts with Roberts as Dodgers manager. That’s ahead of his 1,249 strikeouts when Don Mattingly was manager of the Dodgers, and 497 under Joe Torre.
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