Take a bow, Clayton Kershaw.
The left-handed pitcher dominated the San Francisco Giants Wednesday during a 2-1 victory. He threw a complete game and allowed only one earned run, six hits and a walk on the way to 15 strikeouts behind 132 pitches.
While the complete game is impressive, the strikeout numbers are what truly stand out. It was his second career 15-strikeout game, per ESPN Stats & Info, matching his total from the no-hitter he threw against the Colorado Rockies last season. Also according to ESPN Stats & Info, Kershaw now has a National League-leading 12 double-digit strikeout games on the year.
He also boasts a whopping 251 punchouts on the season, which put him next to some fairly impressive company, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Kershaw wasn’t just mowing through the Giants hitters; he was forcing them to swing right through his pitches. In all, San Francisco tallied 35 swing-and-misses, which ESPN.com's David Schoenfield and ESPN Stats & Info put into perspective:
It wasn’t all easy for the southpaw, though. He ran into some trouble in the ninth inning when two Giants reached base with two outs, but, much to the crowd’s delight, manager Don Mattingly left him in the game after a mound meeting. Naturally, Kershaw responded with a strikeout of Marlon Byrd and a triumphant fist pump, as the Dodgers shared:
Thanks to the nerve-wracking ninth inning, Kershaw ended up with 132 pitches, which tied his career high, per ESPN Stats & Info. Molly Knight, author of The Best Team Money Can Buy, and Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times pointed out why that pitch total isn’t particularly concerning moving forward:
Kershaw will still have plenty of chances to add to his strikeout totals with a month remaining in the season, which is rather incredible, as Knight and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted:
Perhaps most importantly, Wednesday’s win finished a sweep for the Dodgers and put them 6.5 games ahead of the Giants in the National League West. It is difficult to envision San Francisco catching Los Angeles after this series, especially when the Dodgers can avoid prolonged losing streaks by pitching Kershaw and Zack Greinke two of every five games.
Nobody is likely happier than Kershaw himself with Los Angeles' recent charge, given his comments after the Dodgers lost five straight games in late August, per Mark Saxon of ESPN.com:
“I hope we’re panicking a little bit. I think panic’s a good thing to a certain extent. It’s August whatever-it-is, and we’ve got five weeks or whatever-it-is, too. There needs to be a sense of urgency. Maybe that’s better to say it than panic, but I feel like we’ve got to start playing like that.”
With his team firmly ahead in the division, Kershaw’s performance also had individual meaning for the rest of the year. He is a leading contender for the National League Cy Young Award. Wednesday’s outing was a loud statement after the Chicago Cubs' Jake Arrieta recently threw a no-hitter against Kershaw’s Dodgers and Greinke just picked up his 15th win and lowered his ERA to a sparkling 1.59.
At this point, it would go against recent patterns if anyone in the National League won the award except for Kershaw. He captured it in 2014, 2013 and 2011 and has solidified himself as one of the most dominant pitchers in modern history.
Kershaw is impossible to ignore in that Cy Young battle this time around as well because of his second-half pace, as Passan pointed out:
If he continues to pitch like that, the Dodgers will be playing deep into October. The NL Cy Young race will only heat up further, too.
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