LOS ANGELES, CA — Wednesday night in LA, a sellout crowd of 53,536, the seventeenth of the season, came to collect a Yoshinobu Yamamoto bobblehead and, as a bonus, a chance to witness history, as all eyes would be on Dodgers great lefty Clayton Kershaw in his quest for 3,000 strikeouts in his Hall of Fame career. He came into Wednesday’s game needing only three strikeouts to reach a milestone that only nineteen others have achieved in the history of baseball. He went up against a White Sox club that was batting .220, dead last in batting in all of baseball.
That being said, Kershaw, focused with the same mindset—winning—still had to pitch like he was facing the Yankees.
Easier said than done as Kershaw struggled through the first three innings—giving up seven hits and four runs, including a two-run home run to Austin Slater. The Dodgers made it a 4-2 game with home runs by Will Smith, a 406-foot shot into the left field pavilion, and Andy Pages, Havana Cuba, a 415-foot blast to dead center field. And then the agonizing inning-by-inning journey for everyone who cheered him on from the first pitch he threw. The incredible anticipation when Kershaw would get two strikes on a batter only to see that batter put the ball in play and the crowd moan. Every pitch that was called a ball brought boos.
Clayton Kershaw, a first ball Hall of Famer and 2012 Roberto Clemente winner – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
When he got to strikeout 2998 and 2999, the fans erupted as if it were number 3000. Everyone was on pins and needles, and when people caught sight of Lou Trivino warming up in the Dodger bullpen at the beginning of the fifth inning, with Kershaw’s pitch count at 91, they booed loudly. Kershaw’s pitch count was mounting because he had no clean innings.
And then the crowd went wild as Kershaw came out of the dugout to pitch the sixth inning. They would not be disappointed when, with two outs and 99 pitches thrown by this 37-year-old 18-year veteran and on pitch number 100, he struck out the White Sox third baseman Vinny Capra. Swinging on a 1-2 count with his go-to pitch, an 85mph slider to end the inning. The game stopped for about six minutes for a tribute to this amazing pitcher.
But guess what? The game only got better. At this point, the Dodgers were still behind 4-2, and they took the game to the bottom of the ninth inning behind by two runs with the 7-8-9 hitters coming up. A Michael Conforto singled to start the inning, followed by walks to Tommy Edman and Hyeseong Kim, loading the bases for Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani beat out a throw on what would be a double play on any other player that scored a run. Then Mookie Betts hit a sacrifice fly that tied the score at 4-4. After Ohtani stole second base to put himself in scoring position as the winning run, Will Smith came up and drew a walk.
Now the stage was set for Freddie Freeman to once again come to the rescue.
With two outs, he hit the first pitch he saw, a line drive single to right field that sent Ohtani racing home with the winning run.
Wow, what a night!
A true Hollywood ending!
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
