Last night saw baseball history take place thanks to Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Albert Pujols. Both men made history during what they do, as Kershaw hit an impressive strikeout mark, while Pujols got into an exclusive home run club. Yesterday also saw the first no-hitter of the 2017 season by Miami Marlins pitcher Edinson Volquez.
Clayton Kershaw gets to 2,000 strikeouts
Last night, Clayton Kershaw got his fourth strikeout of the game against Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Jonathan Villar in the second inning.
This strikeout gave the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher 2,000 for his career, making him the 79th pitcher to accomplish the feat. More impressively, it only took the 29-year-old Kershaw 277 games to reach the 2,000 mark, the second fastest in baseball history. Only Hall of Famer Randy Johnson reached the mark quicker, doing it in 262 games.
Kershaw is now in good company, as he is now the fourth pitcher in Dodgers history to reach the 2,000 strikeout mark with the team. The other three, Sandy Koufax (2,396 strikeouts), Don Drysdale (2,486) and Don Sutton (2,696) are all in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Albert Pujols is the ninth to hit 600 home runs
Last night, Albert Pujols hit a grand slam home run in the fourth inning off of Minnesota Twins pitcher Ervin Santana in route to a 7-2 win.
This was no normal home run by Pujols, as it put the veteran Los Angeles Angel in an elite and storied club. He became only the ninth player in baseball history to hit 600 career home runs and became the first to have his 600th be a grand slam.
Pujols is now the fourth-youngest person (37 years,138 days) to get to 600 home runs, only behind Hank Aaron (37 years, 81 days), Babe Ruth (36 years, 196 days) and Alex Rodriguez (35 years, 8 days).
He currently has the second highest batting average (.308) among players with 600 home runs, only behind Babe Ruth (.342). It took Pujols 9,341 at-bats to hit his 600th home run, with only Willie Mays and Aaron having more.
2017's first no-hitter
Miami Marlins journeyman pitcher Edinson Volquez threw the first no-hitter of the 2017 season in a masterful 3-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It was the first no-hitter of Volquez's career and the 295th in baseball history. It was also the sixth no-hitter thrown by the Marlins since they became a franchise in 1993, the most by one team over that span. For the game, Volquez had 10 strikeouts, 2 walks and threw only 98 pitches. After the game, he dedicated his performance to his late teammates Yordano Ventura and Jose Fernandez.
