Kershaw In Select Strikeout Company

Clayton Kershaw made his first All-Star appearance Tuesday night in Phoenix, and three days later he takes the same mound, though this time in a road uniform, as the Dodgers open a three-game series with the Diamondbacks. Kershaw is tied with Justin Verlander of Detroit for the major league lead with 147 strikeouts. The list of Dodgers to lead the majors in Ks is a short one:

• Fernando Valenzuela (1981)
• Sandy Koufax (1961, 1963, 1965-1966)
• Don Drysdale (1959-1960, 1962)
• Don Newcombe (1951)
• Van Lingle Mungo (1936)
• Dazzy Vance (1923-1925, 1927-1928)

Tonight is game number 93 of the season, and Kershaw has a chance to join some select company tonight, if he hasn't already done so.

That Koufax guy was pretty good.

Lineups

Notes

• Matt Kemp (.868 OPS in 19 PA), Andre Ethier (1.000 OPS in 13 PA), James Loney (.924 OPS in 19 PA), Rafael Furcal (1.500 OPS in six PA), and Dioner Navarro (1.333 OPS in six PA) have all homered off Joe Saunders, tonight's starter fro Arizona.
• Kemp was last caught stealing on April 20. Since then, he has 19 stolen bases (and 19 home runs) in 73 games.
• Loney in his career has seven home runs in 34 games at Chase Field, hitting .424/.469/.652. By contrast, Loney has seven home runs in his last 122 games at Dodger Stadium, hitting .250/.308/.341
• Among the hot Diamondbacks in July (10 games into the month) are Kelly Johnson (.286/.390/.657) and Chris Young (.324/.419/.541)
  

Game Time: 6:40 p.m.

TV: Prime Ticket

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