The countdown to 3,000 will be at the forefront when Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw takes the mound Wednesday night against the visiting Chicago White Sox.
The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner and 2014 NL Most Valuable Player is three strikeouts away from becoming the 20th pitcher in major league history to reach 3,000 in his career and just the fourth left-hander. The others: Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson and CC Sabathia.
Kershaw also is set to become only the third pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters while playing for just one team, joining Walter Johnson (Washington Senators) and Bob Gibson (St. Louis Cardinals).
“A chance to strike out three at home (will) be really cool,” said Kershaw, whose home accomplishments include his first-ever strikeout in 2008 when he set down the Cardinals’ Skip Schumaker.
Kershaw (4-0, 3.03 ERA) has earned the win in each of his past four starts, allowing one run on two hits over six innings Thursday in a 3-1 victory at Colorado as he inched closer to his milestone with five strikeouts.
“For him to be able to do it in the home whites, it’s going to be fun, exciting,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
It will be just Kershaw’s sixth career start against the White Sox. The 37-year-old is 2-1 against Chicago, with a 2.90 ERA.
Los Angeles earned a 6-1 victory in Tuesday’s series opener when Shohei Ohtani hit his 30th home run of the season, while Andy Pages and Michael Conforto each drove in two runs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run over seven innings.
Ohtani now has at least 30 home runs in five consecutive seasons.
The White Sox received two hits and their lone RBI from Lenyn Sosa on Tuesday. Chicago is the worst-hitting team in baseball with a .220 batting average and is in the bottom third of the major leagues with 736 strikeouts after adding 12 on Tuesday.
Now they are poised to be a part of Kershaw’s historic night.
“Very good pitcher obviously (and) still performing well,” White Sox manager Will Venable said of Kershaw.
The two were teammates on the Dodgers for a brief time in 2016.
“Probably going to be able to spin the ball for the rest of his life,” Venable said. “Just a competitor that presents a lot of problems for hitters on both sides. We’ll have our work cut out for us.”
Chicago is set to send left-hander Brandon Eisert (2-1, 4.33 ERA) to the mound in a likely opener role. He has made 36 appearances (two starts) and thrown 35 1/3 innings with 41 strikeouts. Still classified as a rookie, he appeared in three games in 2024 for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has never faced the Dodgers.
White Sox infielder Miguel Vargas, who was traded from the Dodgers last season as part of a three-team deal that landed Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech in Los Angeles, received his World Series ring before the game on Tuesday. Vargas is on a 1-for-25 slide with 10 strikeouts over his past seven games after going 0-for-4 in the series opener.
Chicago rookie Chase Meidroth, who grew up in nearby Manhattan Beach, went 0-for-4 in his first career game at Dodger Stadium.
–Field Level Media
