Arizona Diamondbacks vs Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score on Sep 03, 2020

Clayton Kershaw allowed one hit over six scoreless innings and passed Christy Mathewson on the all-time strikeouts list as the Los Angeles Dodgers notched a 5-1 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night.

Kershaw (5-1) struck out eight to raise his career count to 2,505, good for 38th all-time. His sixth strikeout of the contest moved him past the legendary Mathewson, who fanned 2,502 batters from 1900-16.

Only Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (31 years, 101 days) and Walter Johnson (31 years, 197 days) reached 2,500 strikeouts faster than Kershaw (32 years, 168 days).

Los Angeles (29-10) has won five straight games and 18 of its past 21. The Diamondbacks (14-24) have dropped five in a row and 13 of their last 14.

AJ Pollock homered and Corey Seager had three of the Dodgers' 11 hits.

Kershaw didn't allow a hit over his first 5 2/3 innings before Christian Walker reached on an infield single. Second baseman Enrique Hernandez fielded the ball on the shortstop side of second and his throw to first was high as Walker neared the base. The play was ruled a hit.

Kershaw retired David Peralta to end the inning, then was pulled after 99 pitches with a 2-0 lead. He walked two while lowering his ERA to 1.50, and three relievers followed to combine on a four-hitter as Los Angeles won its 10th straight home game.

Kershaw struck out two in each of the first three innings, including Tim Locastro looking in a 12-pitch at-bat to end the third to pass Mathewson.

Arizona right-hander Luke Weaver (1-6) allowed two runs and four hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five without a walk.

Los Angeles scored twice in the first inning.

Seager and Max Muncy recorded one-out singles to put runners on first and second before Cody Bellinger hit a grounder to Walker. The first baseman touched the bag and threw to second, but the low throw bounced away from shortstop Nick Ahmed as Seager scored from second.

Chris Taylor followed with a run-scoring single to left to make it 2-0.

Arizona got on the board in the seventh with Ahmed starting the inning with a walk against right-hander Dylan Floro and advancing to third on a single by Josh Rojas. Andy Young followed with a fielder's choice to score Ahmed before Floro retired the next two batters to end the threat.

Pollock started the bottom of the frame by slamming a first-pitch fastball over the fence in center to make it 3-1. It was his seventh homer of the year. Mookie Betts delivered an RBI single later in the inning, and Hernandez had a run-scoring single in the eighth.

--Field Level Media