LOS ANGELES -- As Clayton Kershaw gets closer to one of the most exclusive clubs in Major League history, he's shown more and more flashes of his vintage form.
Kershaw put together one of his sharpest outings of the season in Saturday night's 11-5 win over the Giants at Dodger Stadium, blanking San Francisco across seven innings. After racking up five strikeouts, he is just a dozen shy of 3,000 for his career.
"Maybe by September I’ll get there, we’ll see," Kershaw said. "It’s obviously a very cool thing and it’s starting to get a little more on the forefront of the mind, but who knows how long 12 could take me at this point? It might be until August, so we’ll see.”
The Dodgers have had no illusions about the fact that the version of Kershaw they're getting this season is past the peak of his career. The 37-year-old left-hander didn't make his season debut until May 17 while completing his rehab from offseason surgeries on his left toe and left knee, and his first six starts have been somewhat of a mixed bag.
But Saturday could be something for Kershaw to build on. He completed seven scoreless innings for the first time since June 20, 2023, against the Angels, and matched Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the longest outing by a Dodgers starter this year.
Kershaw drew a familiar opponent in the Giants, the club he's faced more than any other in his career. Entering the game, 408 of his strikeouts came against the Dodgers' longtime rivals, an astounding 91 more than the next closest team, the Padres.
So he tacked on five more for good measure. Three of them came via his nasty curveball, which was working better than it had been in many of his previous starts.
But even though his final line was in good shape -- seven scoreless innings, three hits, one walk, five strikeouts -- Kershaw wasn't satisfied just yet.
"Maybe it’s my personality, I don’t know," Kershaw said. "You never feel great about it. I think there’s always things you want to have back. But the results, ultimately at the end of the day to win the game, that’s the most important thing."
"In the moment, I can think of some pitches off the top of my head that I’d like to have back, that I’d like to throw better," Kershaw added. "But there’s no restrictions physically, health-wise, which is great. It’s just kind of pitching now, which is good.”
Regardless of how Kershaw felt about it, the Dodger Stadium faithful certainly enjoyed it. After the veteran got Casey Schmitt to ground out for the final out of the seventh, the fans rose up and roared to show some appreciation for their franchise icon.
"It was special," Kershaw said. "I honestly didn’t know if I was done or not, so I didn’t want to come out of the moment too much. But I love pitching here. I don’t take it for granted. Who knows how many I've got left here? So I’m just going to enjoy it. It’s special any time somebody cheers for you like that."