#MLBVideos: Clayton Kershaw makes HISTORY! | Morning Lineup (MLB Daily Recap)

Clayton Kershaw makes HISTORY! | Morning Lineup (MLB Daily Recap)

50,000 on their feet at Dodger Stadium. One, two, pitch. Strike three called. There it is. He got him with a slider. Strike out number 3,000 for Clayton Kershaw. History at Dodger Stadium. Clayton Kershaw has cemented his legacy as one of the all-time great pitchers in the history of this game. from MLB.com. This is the Morning Lineup podcast. I’m your host, Mandy Bell. Today is Thursday, July 3rd, and if you took a break from baseball yesterday, well, you missed a good bit. Not only were the starters announced for this year’s All-Star game in Atlanta, but history was made in Los Angeles by Mr. Clayton Kershaw in as dramatic fashion as you could imagine. Oh, and there just so happened to be 19 games played, the most in one day since August 5th, 1979. You know, excluding that crazy shortened 2020 season. We’ll recap all the highlights from the chaotic day in under 10 minutes. Let’s get to it. On any other night, Clayton Kershaw probably wouldn’t have still been on the mound. But this wasn’t a typical night, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was clear that he was going to manage this one differently. Kershaw entered this matchup with the White Socks three strikeouts away from the rare 30,000 strikeout milestone. Everyone in Dodger Stadium was ready to watch history. But two innings went by with no strikeouts and a good bit of white socks hits, but then a sign of hope came in the third. Swing and a miss. Strike three. Public enemy number one. Strikeout number one. Two to go. What kind of Hollywood script would this be if he just spammed the next two batters he faced? He needed to build suspense, and that’s exactly what he did. The fourth went by, no more strikeouts, and his pitch count was getting uncomfortably high for this point in the game with his own personal milestone on the line. Two outs into the fifth, still no strikeout. He was sitting around 90 pitches. If this last out didn’t result in a strikeout, maybe he wouldn’t come back out for the six. But Kershaw delivered. swung on and miss. That is career strikeout 2,999. One to go for Kershaw.
So, here Dave Roberts was having to stick to his word of managing this game a bit differently. The White Sox had a lead. Kershaw’s pitch count was closing in on 100. On a normal night, there would be no reason for him to come back out for the six, but the crowd erupted when he trotted back out to the mound. But still, the Dodgers just couldn’t let him pitch forever. Time was ticking. First batter, ground out. Second batter, double, but was thrown out trying to steal third. Third baseman Maxy injured his knee while making the tag, and there was a quick delay as the trainers helped him off the field. So, there stood Kershaw, left thinking about exactly what was on the line. Who knows if he’d get another inning. All he knew was he definitely had one more batter to make it happen, and he did.
The ravine rises, ready to erect. Strike three called. There it is. He got him with a slider.
The 20th pitcher in baseball history. The fourth left-handed pitcher, but only the third to record 3,000 career strikeouts with one team. Clayton Edward Kershaw.
The stadium gave him a roaring standing ovation. Kershaw tipped his cap to the crowd, hugged every person in his dugout, came back out to the field for a curtain call, found his family in the stands and waved to them, blew them kisses, and gave them a thumbs up. He had done it. Kershaw is the 20th member of the 30,000 strikeout club, just the third to record them all with one team, and just the fourth left-hander. With his Sai Youngs, an MVP, and multiple World Series rings already secured, this may have been the last thing Kershaw had left to prove. And he couldn’t have looked happier after doing so. Oh, and the Dodgers ended up beating the White Socks 5 to four on a walk-off single by Freddy Freeman to score Otani just to make the day even sweeter. Okay, switching gears here to some other pretty talented guys around the league. Your 2025 All-Star game starters for the AL. Cal Raleigh, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Labor Torres, Jose Ramirez, Jacob Wilson, Aaron Judge, Riley Green, Javier Bayz, and Ryan O’Harn. For the NL, Will Smith, Freddy Freeman, Catel Marte, Manny Machado, Francisco Lindor, Ronald Akuna Jr., Pete Crow Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, and of course, Showi Otani. So yes, there’s Judge and Otani. There’s the MLB home run leader, Cal Raleigh, or Big Dumper, getting his first all-star nod. There’s Francisco Lindor earning his first career all-star start. But the real highlight here is Jacob Wilson. The Ace Shortstop was drafted just two years ago as the sixth overall pick. The 23-year-old has simply taken his rookie season by storm this year. Wilson is the first rookie shortstop to win a fan election, and he’s just the second rookie to start at the position in allstar history. The last was in 1960. The rest of the rosters will be announced during the MLB All-Star selection show on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN. It’s only fitting that the battle for the top spot in the AL East played out like a heavyweight matchup. More after the break. A share of first place in the AL East was on the line for the Blue Jays. And they certainly played like it, especially in the first inning before even recording an out.
Two nothing Blue Jays. Second and third now. Still nobody out. And now Addison Bger straight away center. Gone.
Yep. That was five runs before an out was recorded. And then Davis Schneider added a two-run homer before the inning ended. If you’re Toronto at this point, you have to be feeling quite confident. But come on, this is the Yankees. This wasn’t going to happen without a fight. Down eight to start the fifth inning, New York started to chip away. Two RBI singles and an Aaron Judge RBI double played in three. And then John Carlos Stanton got to enjoy his first sweet swing of the year. High drive, left center, straw back on the track, turning looking. See youa Stanton first home run of the year and it’s a big one. A three-run shot and the Yankees have pulled to within two. Suddenly in one inning, the Yankees went from being down eight to just two. The next inning, they cut it to one, but Davis Schneider smacked his second homer of the night to give the Blue Jays a two-run lead again. So, of course, it all led to Aaron Judge.
Kill to left field. There it goes. See youa. High ball game. The Yankees have come all the way back.
His 31st blast of the year seemed to bring the momentum back in the Yankees favor. All for it to be lost on a run-scoring wild pitch that eventually led to Toronto’s 11 to9 win. And now the Blue Jays and the Yankees are tied at top the AL East. Elsewhere around baseball, the Tigers Nationals double header had a little bit of everything. The Tigers had two three-run homers in the first inning of the matinea. All-Star starter Riley Green had two jacks himself and the Tigers crushed the Nationals 11 to2. But in game two, the Washington offense exploded and James Wood scored three times to beat Detroit 9 to4. But this catch was the highlight of the entire day.
Fast driven in the air to deep center field. Back goes Jacob Young to the wall. He climbs the wall and he caught it. Maybe his best overthe-wall play ever. The Reds and Red Sox picked up their rain suspended game in the fourth inning and Boston scored two in the eighth to take the win 5 to3. But in game two, the Reds took the lead on a clutch grand slam by Christian and Carnosion Strand and went on to win 8 to4. Jake Mangum hit an inside the park home run in the Rays 6 to5 win over the A’s. Shay Wickham watched his first major league homer travel a stackcast projected 451 ft in the Astros 5 to3 win over the Rockies. Joey Ortiz hit a grand slam in the Brewers 7 to2 win over the Mets in game one of their double header. But the Mets retaliated in game two with back-to-back jacks in the second inning. A Brandon NMO grand slam and a Francisco Lindor solo shot to lead New York to a 7 to3 victory over Milwaukee. The Pirates extended their winning streak to six games in their five to nothing win over the Cardinals. But what’s more impressive is they have held opponents scoreless for 31 consecutive innings. On the other hand, the Marlins magical run has come to an end after eight straight wins. On Wednesday, they lost to the Twins 2 to1. Coming up tonight, check out the MLB Network showcase game between the Guardians and the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Cleveland is looking to end its current six-game losing streak, while Chicago is looking for a sweep. It’s all happening at 8:05 p.m. Eastern time on MLB Network. That’s all for today’s morning lineup. Will Leech will get you caught up to speed on all things baseball tomorrow. As always, please be sure to leave us a rating and a review and share this episode with the baseball lovers in your life. Thanks for listening and have a great day.

All of the important storylines from 7/2/2025 across MLB including: Clayton Kershaw’s 3,000th career strikeout, Jacob Young making his own history, and more!

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