Clayton Kershaw pulled after seven perfect innings against Twins

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History was on the verge of being made in Minnesota on Wednesday — until it wasn't.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw has accomplished a lot in his Hall of Fame worthy career, winning three Cy Young Awards, the 2014 NL MVP Award and a World Series title in 2020. 

But he'd never been perfect.

Through seven innings on Wednesday, Kershaw was tracking to potentially rewrite the record books, pitching a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins with 13 strikeouts and 80 pitches to his name.

However, with only 80 pitches thrown on the day, Kershaw was pulled from the game by manager Dave Roberts in a move that drew the ire of plenty across the MLB community.

This is not Roberts' first time pulling a pitcher who was in the midst of pitching a perfect game, having done the same with Rich Hill in 2018, while Hill was perfect through seven against the Marlins.

Roberts also pulled Walker Buehler after six no-hit innings during the 2018 season.

The most recent occurrence of a pitcher dealing and being pulled came in Game 3 of the 2021 World Series, when Ian Anderson was pulled while pitching a no-hitter through five innings.

Said Braves manager Brian Snitker after that game, "I told him, ‘Ian, I'm going with my gut right here. My eyes and my gut.'"

While Kershaw is 34 years-old and coming off an elbow injury that sidelined him during last year's postseason, Wednesday represented his first start of the 2022 season, meaning he was likely as fresh as could be.

Dodgers' catcher Austin Barnes said after the game that he also agreed with the decision by Roberts.

"It's early in the season. It was the right move for sure. I think he was getting a little bit tired."

The Dodgers would ultimately cruise to a 7-0 victory, with reliever Alex Vesia surrendering the only hit of the game in the eighth inning.

With Roberts' controversial decision on full display, social media reacted to Kershaw not being able to finish the day.

Here are some of the top reactions from Twitter.