The Dodgers' ace threw one of the most dominating no-hitters of all time and came close to perfection.
Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw pitched the game of his life on Wednesday night, throwing a no-hitter to beat the Rockies, 8-0, at Dodger Stadium.
Kershaw struck out a career-high 15 batters in the effort and walked none. The only batter to get to first base all night was Corey Dickerson, who reached on a throwing error by Hanley Ramirez to open the seventh inning.
"That was a really though play. Under normal circumstances, that was pretty close to a hit," Kershaw said after the game. Hanley did all he can. There is nothing you can really do about that."
"It's not good when you have a pitcher like him having a perfect game going. You try to do your best," Ramirez said. "Everybody in baseball knows that was a tough play. I gave every effort I had on that play."
After the error, Kershaw retired the final nine batters of the game, including five by strikeout.
"Clayton was just so dominant as the game went on, he had such a great breaking ball," said catcher A.J. Ellis. "The combination of his slider and curveball was the best I've seen. When you have those things going, nights like this are possible."
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There have been two no-hitters in baseball in 2014, and both have been thrown by Dodgers. In addition to Kershaw's masterpiece, teammate Josh Beckett no-hit the Phillies on May 25 in Philadelphia. It is the first time the Dodgers have had multiple no-hitters in the same season since 1956, when Carl Erskine and Sal Maglie turned the trick for Brooklyn.
The last team to have two pitchers throw complete game no-hitters in the same season was the 1972 Cubs, with Burt Hooton and Milt Pappas.
"I hear [Zack] Greinke's got one in him, and [Hyun-Jin] Ryu maybe, too," manager Don Mattingly joked after the game. "That's the goal."
Kershaw won his fourth straight game on Wednesday and during the month of June is 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA to go along with 39 strikeouts and just one walk, in 29 innings.
"You like seeing good things happen to good people," Mattingly said. "He's special."