WATCH: San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish records historic 3,000th career strikeout against Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres starter Yu Darvish made history on Friday night during his side’s emphatic 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Darvish struck out nine batters over seven shutout innings to record the 3,000th strikeout of his career between Nippon Pro Baseball (NPB) and MLB.
3,000 Ks across 2 countries.
Congrats to Yu Darvish man https://t.co/o1RqdlJSnP
"3,000 Ks across 2 countries. Congrats to Yu Darvish man" - Starting 9
Darvish made his senior professional debut with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham fighters in 2005, where he spent six years.
In 2012, he moved to the United States and embarked on his major league journey. Since then, Darwish has played for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and now, the Padres.
Speaking to MLB.com about his landmark achievement, Darvish said:
"Longevity and just being able to stay in the game for this long — all in all, I'm grateful. I feel grateful right now."
The Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies lost on Friday, which was more good news for the Padres in the context of the National League Wild Card race. The result opened up a four-game gap between the Padres and the Brewers.
Yu Darvish is only the second player to have 1,000 strikeouts in Japanese and American baseball
Yu Darvish became only the second pitcher to reach the 3,000-strikeout milestone while notching at least 1,000 strikeouts in both NPB and MLB.
The only other player to have done that is Japanese pitching icon Hideo Nomo. He is currently working for the Padres as their advisor for baseball operations.
Happy 54th birthday to a 2x MLB strikeout king and fire baller who pitched 2 no-hitters: Hideo Nomo! 🎉
Fun fact - Nomo won the rookie of the year in both Japan and in MLB 🏆🏆
https://t.co/j6CJ0azNhE
"Happy 54th birthday to a 2x MLB strikeout king and fire baller who pitched 2 no-hitters: Hideo Nomo! Fun fact - Nomo won the rookie of the year in both Japan and in MLB" - Bodog
While the Padres won 7-1 against the Dodgers on Friday, the second game turned out to be a completely different story. The Dodgers hit back hard, winning 12-1 and reminding everyone why they are still the team to beat.
They entered tonight’s game with a rare three-game skid to arrest, but their dominance in victory today reassured fans that it was business as usual.
The Padres, on the other hand, need to watch out. Their record dropped to 74-60. The gap between the Padres and the final Wild Card-chasing Brewers is down to just three games.
Both teams will look to win the rubbermatch of the series today, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:08 p.m. EDT.
For more news and updates, go to the Sportskeeda Baseball page.