There’s an old saying that we are all familiar with: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” While this old saying makes about as much sense as the refrigerator light staying on when the door is closed saying, it brings up an interesting point – did anyone notice that Clayton Kershaw retired the Chicago White Sox on five pitches (which included a strikeout) in the first inning of Monday night’s game?

Realistically, it’s hard to believe that any true Dodger fan didn’t notice this remarkable accomplishment but it’s probably safe to say that most Dodger fans may not realize that it was possibly the fewest number of pitches thrown by the two-time and defending Cy Young Award winner to retire the side. I say possibly because even the 26-year-old Dallas, Texas native didn’t know for sure when I asked him this question after Monday night’s 5-2 win over the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch neighbors.

“It’s got to be pretty close, ya, it’s got to be pretty fast,” Kershaw said. “It’s always good to get that first one out of the way, a good sign there it’s under control, for sure.”

Even Clayton Kershaw is unsure if his five-pitch first inning on Monday night is the fewest that he has ever thrown to end an inning. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Kershaw’s first pitch of the game to Adam Eaton was promptly lifted to center field where it was caught by Scott Van Slyke, who hasn’t started a game in center field since September 2, 2008 with the Dodgers (then) Advanced Single-A affiliate Inland Empire 66ers (now the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes). Kershaw then struck out Gordon Beckham on three pitches and got Cuban sensation (the other one) Jose Abreu to hit a first-pitch comebacker to Kershaw to end the top of the first inning on five pitches. So good was Kershaw on Monday night that his pitch count in his first three innings was five, seven and nine respectively.

“Clayton was just dominant tonight,” said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly after the game. “He had one bad pitch, a slider that he didn’t get down, and if you noticed, the rest of the night he wasn’t going to allow them to get up, he was starting to bunch everything in the dirt.”

That one bad pitched resulted in a two-run home run by the aforementioned Abreu in the fourth inning – the only runs scored by the White Sox on the night.

“I made one mistake to Abreu and to Beckham too, both of those were just over the plate,” said Kershaw. “The one to Abreu you’d like to be a double or single or something, not over the fence, but I guess that’s why he’s got 15 or 16 homers, he’s pretty good.”

Kershaw made only one bad pitch on Monday night – and it landed in the Left Field Pavilion.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

So why the mystery about the five-pitch inning being a personal best for the hard-throwing left-hander? Because that’s one of those things that (apparently) isn’t kept track of. Oh sure, there is a record of three-pitch innings (of which there have actually been many), but once you get to four and five-pitch innings, you’re on your own to track those down.

Interestingly, there have been only four Dodger pitchers to throw three-pitch innings since pitch counts began being tracked:

• Ismael Valdez – May 15, 1998 in the seventh inning
• Chan Ho Park – May 25, 1998 in the first inning
• Kazuhisa (“Kaz”) Ishii – June 8, 2002 in the sixth inning
• Scott Erickson – July 15, 2005 in the eighth inning

While Kershaw’s five-pitch inning may not be all that big of a deal and is really nothing more than just another impressive PB for the Dodger ace, it is a good reason why Clayton consistently pitches deep into games and why he has averaged over 200 innings during his six-plus seasons in the big leagues.

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Pitch Count Trivia

• The fewest number of pitches thrown by a pitcher to record three outs is one and although extremely rare, it has happened eight times in MLB history. How is this possible, you ask? The answer is actually quite simple. A relief pitcher enters the game with two runners on base and no outs and on his first pitch he induces a triple play – one pitch, three outs; all of which are attributed to him.
• Obviously for a starting pitcher the answer is three pitches and, as noted above, has happened many times.
• What hasn’t happened many times is for a pitcher to strike out the side on nine pitches, which is known as an “Immaculate Inning.” Ironically, one occurred on Monday night by Cleveland Indians right-hander Justin Masterson.
• Although there have been 51 Immaculate Innings in MLB history (including Masterson’s), only three pitchers have done it twice – Left Grove, Nolan Ryan and (you guessed it) Sandy Koufax.
• Nolan Ryan is the only pitcher in MLB history to have thrown an Immaculate Inning in both leagues.