BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS...June 18, 2014, 10 years ago today:
It isn't a perfect game, but some consider it to be the best pure pitching performance ever. Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw Clayton Kershaw no-hit the Colorado Rockies, 8-0, with his night spoiled only by a seventh-inning throwing error by teammate Hanley Ramirez on a routine ground ball. A metric called GameScore actually dials it in as the second-best appearance in big league history behind the 20-strikeout one-hitter tossed by the Chicago Cubs’ Kerry Wood in 1998.
The Rockies came into the game as the best-hitting club in the majors with a .284 average. But Kershaw struck out 15 batters and did not walk anyone, the best strikeout-to-walk ratio ever for a no-hitter. The count went to three balls only once all night, and Kershaw needed only 107 pitches total to accomplish the feat. He allowed only three balls to be hit out of the infield. Oh, and the legendary Vin Scully announced every pitch. It was the 19th no-hitter he had called in his incomparable career.
Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLA.com declares June 18 as the single best calendar date of Kershaw’s career: “He didn’t start again on June 18 until 2019, when he was home against the rival Giants. The only player to appear in both games was Kershaw. The Giants went down in order in the first inning, and Kershaw walked a batter in the second. Later that inning his bid for a second June 18 no-hitter ended with a single. San Francisco barely threatened against Kershaw with three hits and two walks, but he didn’t allow a ball out of the infield with runners in scoring position.”
Kershaw left the game after throwing seven scoreless innings in the 9-0 win. That made it two June 18 starts, with two wins, three hits allowed and 21 strikeouts in 16 scoreless innings, and a combined 17-0 Dodgers scoring advantage.” Kershaw is now in his 16th major league season—all of them with the Dodgers. He is 210-92 in his career with 15 shutouts (a lot in this day and age). Kershaw is 35 years old and must have a lot left in the tank, right?
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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