Kershaw’s Scoreless Streak Ends at 41

San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley fouled off three pitches from Clayton Kershaw with two strikes in the sixth inning. Headley did the same thing in the first inning only to strike out on an 88 mph slider, so there was no real sense of doom or foreboding here.

Kershaw was one out away from recording his 42nd consecutive scoreless inning. He still was quite a ways from Orel Hershiser’s 59 scoreless innings, but with each pitch and each inning that was coming more and more real. In a way all of this seemed appropriate. When Hershiser broke Don Drysdale’s record of 58 consecutive scoreless innings in 1988, Drysdale was a broadcaster for the team. Now, Hershiser is a broadcaster for the team.

As in the first inning Kershaw threw an 88 mph slider to Headley, and this time Headley did not miss it. The groan from the 50,332 fans as the ball came of the bat was clearly audible. As the ball flew towards the pavilion seats in left-centerfield, the groans turned into an urging for the ball to stay in the park, as if the crowd were trying to will Kershaw’s scoreless streak to remain intact by their sheer will.

But no chance. The ball cleared the wall, and the disappointment was heard loud and clear. But rather than wallow, the fans stood up and cheered in appreciation of the 41 scoreless innings. Kershaw had no choice but to shake it off.

“Headley is a good hitter,” Kershaw told Alana Rizzo after the game. “He put a good swing on it.”

I said on the latest episode of the B&J Podcast that Clayton Kershaw would go down as the greatest pitcher ever. Whether or not that actually happens, we are witnessing a pitcher having one the most dominant stretches ever seen.

Kershaw was just selected for his fourth consecutive All Star game. He won two of the last three National League Cy Young Awards, coming in second to one-year wonder R.A. Dickey in the other year. For three consecutive seasons he led the Majors in ERA.

And, much to the horror of hitters around the league, Kershaw may be having his best season yet. Just take a look at his WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched). Last season he lead the Majors with a 0.915 WHIP. Prior to this game he was at 0.870 which would put him in the top 25 single-season WHIP ever.

Despite missing more than a month, Kershaw has already amassed 126 strikeouts. He’s striking out 11.9 batters per nine innings, the most in the Majors. He’s only giving up 1.2 walks per nine innings.

In other words you can’t hit him, and he doesn’t give up walks.

Perhaps there was a sign that Kershaw’s quest would come to a screeching halt. There was a snafu to the Hello Kitty travel mug giveaway that was supposed to happen tonight. According to Jill Painter:

Those who didn’t get the mug were given vouchers to pick them up at a later date.

This is Frank McCourt-esque levels of bumbling. Moral of the story? To channel the great Clan of Wu Tang, Hello Kitty ain’t nuttin’ to fuck wit’.

With the 2-1 win, the Dodgers take a one-game lead over the Giants who lost to the Athletics 6-1 earlier in the day.