(Reposted from June 19, 2014)

There isn’t anyone, not one single person who follows the game of baseball even casually who didn’t expect this night to come.

Clayton Kershaw pitched a no-hitter.

And but for a throwing error by Hanley Ramirez on a very difficult play in the seventh inning it would have been a perfect game. But hey, now Kershaw has another goal to shoot for – if he even cared about such things.

“You don’t really ever think about getting to do something like that,” said the ever-humble Kershaw. “You always think about winning a World Series or being a part of that. As far as individual stuff goes though, this ranks up there pretty cool.”

The Dodgers pounded out eight runs on nine hits against the normally hot-hitting Rockies to give Kershaw a comfortable cushion to work with. Little did he or anyone else know that only one run would have done the trick.

From Kershaw’s very first pitch of the night it was clear that he was in the zone.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

To say that Kershaw was on his game right from the first pitch (which was a strike, by the way), would be an understatement. Not only did he not allow a hit to any of the 28 batters he faced, he struck out 15 of them – a career high.

“Once we got a little bit deeper in the game we realized that both his breaking balls were so devastating,” said catcher A.J. Ellis. “It’s the best I’ve seen both of them on the same night. The strikeouts kept mounting up and I think he knew that this was going to be a chance if he could just get to the eighth and ninth inning.

“I think once we got past Tulowitzki in the seventh who’s obviously the best hitter in the National League right now, we felt pretty good about the match-ups the rest of the way. I think Clayton did as well” added Ellis. “He was locked in and never lost his rhythm.”

The Dodgers offense got off to a quick start scoring two of their eight runs in the first inning – an inning which saw six batters come to the plate and lasted nearly 20 minutes; this after Kershaw had warmed up in the bullpen and quickly retired the Rockies in the top of the first inning and then having to sit for awhile.

“I pitched against [Jorge] De La Rosa last time in Colorado (on June 8) and we had a long first inning as well,” said Kershaw. “It’s just one of those things where you just make sure that you kinda move around a little bit and throw as many pitches as you need to get loose. I don’t really have too much of a problem with that.”

As for his pitch selection, Kershaw said that he stuck with his fastball, curveball and slider all night long, although he did try a change-up – once.

“I threw one change-up and it was bad, but the other three were working pretty good,” said the 26-year-old two-time Cy Young Award winner. “I think I had pretty good command of those pitches tonight, fastball, curveball, slider. Once you get that huge lead you just want to  try and make them beat you, that’s kinda what I tried to do tonight.”

Kershaw’s 107th and final pitch of the night was a slider to Rockies left fielder Cory Dickerson, which he swung at and missed, thus securing Kershaw’s place in history.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

As he normally does, Kershaw gave high praise to A.J. Ellis for his historic night.

“It’s really fun to celebrate with your teammates,” Kershaw said. “Catchers take a lot of pride [in catching a no-hitter] and getting to be a part of that too. He was a huge part of it. I know how hard he works, I know how much he prepares a game for me, so to get to celebrate with him is pretty cool.”

As you might expect, Kershaw also expressed his appreciation for the support given to him from his wife Ellen.

“She was probably way more nervous that I was because she has no control over it,” said Clayton. “You know, you get to hug and hangout, it’s just pretty fun.”

Kershaw’s no-hitter came only 24 days after teammate Josh Beckett threw his no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 25 at Citizens Bank Park. The only other time the Dodgers have had two no-hitters in one season was back in 1956 when Carl Erskine and Sal Maglie accomplished the feat. The last team to throw multiple no-hitters in the same season was the 1972 Cubs when Burt Hooton and Milt Pappas did so.

Kershaw embraces his catcher and best friend A.J. Ellis after throwing his first career no-hitter against the Rockies on Wednesday night in front of 46,069 at Dodger Stadium. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

The always witty Beckett kidded around with Kershaw after his own no-hitter last month.

“Beckett was kidding around when he threw his [no-hitter],” said Kershaw. “He said ‘Someday I’ll teach you how to do that.'”

But all kidding aside, it was Dodgers manager Don Mattingly who summed up Kershaw’s historic night best.

“What was really cool about tonight is that all those guys sit out there and watch him because I think when you talk to our guys, nobody deserves it more than him. It’s just so nice to watch someone like that get it.”