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Clayton Kershaw struck out Matt Holliday of the Cardinals swinging in the first inning Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, the first strikeout of the night for Kershaw and his 200th of the season. Kershaw is the 10th Dodgers pitcher ever to strikeout 200 or more batters in successive seasons, and the first since Chan Ho Park 10 years ago.
Dodgers With Back-to-Back 200-Strikeout Seasons | |
Pitcher | Years |
Clayton Kershaw | 2010-2011 |
Chan Ho Park | 2000-2001 |
Kevin Brown | 1999-2000 |
Hideo Nomo | 1995-1997 |
Fernando Valenzuela | 1984-1986 |
Andy Messersmith | 1974-1975 |
Don Sutton | 1969-1970, 1972-1973 |
Sandy Koufax | 1961-1966 |
Don Drysdale | 1959-1960, 1962-1965 |
Dazzy Vance | 1924-1925 |
Kershaw leads the National League in strikeouts this season, and trails only Justin Verlander's 212 punchouts for the major league lead. The last Dodger to lead the league in strikeouts was Hideo Nomo, who struck out 236 batters in 1995, his first MLB season.
Kershaw's 200th strikeout last season was Aubrey Huff, who struck out in the seventh inning on September 14, 2010.