Kershaw scoreless innings streak snapped in Dodgers' win

LOS ANGELES -- Not every pitcher can give up a home run and then receive a standing ovation. Then again, not every pitcher is Clayton Kershaw.

The Dodgers ace gave up a solo home run to Chase Headley in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game at 1-1 and snap his scoreless innings streak at 41, but that was all Kershaw allowed in the Dodgers' narrow 2-1 win.

Kershaw is riding a wave of stellar play that began even before his no-hitter on June 18 and carried into his most recent start Thursday night.

The Padres were held scoreless for the first five innings. Kershaw then struck out the first two batters of the sixth before his encounter with Headley.

In order to snap the streak, and eventually tie the game, Headley had to work for it.

The Padres third baseman got behind in the count 1-2. Kershaw threw him an 88 mile an hour slider. Headley fouled it off. 95 mile an hour fastball. Fouled off. 75 mile an hour curveball. Fouled off.

The seventh pitch of the at-bat was an 88 mile an hour slider Kershaw left up and Headley sent it over the wall in left center field.

"That's usually what (he's) giving them up on if he gets (a slider) that doesn't get down and, kind of, stays up," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of home runs against his ace.

Kershaw put his head down appearing to be in disgust. Dodger fans gave him a standing ovation. After striking out Carlos Quentin to end the inning, he received another standing ovation on his way to the dugout. 

"That's really cool to know that they know what's going on and they have a feeling for it and appreciate what you're doing," Kershaw said.

Although after the game, the pitch appeared to be still bothering him. Not because it ended his scoreless innings streak, but because of the impact it had on the game.

"It's one thing to give up a run but that tied up the game at the time," Kershaw. "If you give up a run when it's 8-0 it's not a big deal, but when it's 1-1 that hurts. Give him credit. It was a long at-bat. I kind of threw everything I had. He put a good swing on it and it went over the fence."

As he stood with his shoulder wrapped in ice following a complete game, three-hit performance in which he struck out 11 Padres, the competitive juices were still flowing throughout the body of the two-time Cy Young Award winner.

You get a sense of how he got to 41 consecutive scoreless innings.

"It doesn't get more competitive than that," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "He's just every adjective you can think of -- unique, he's special, he's just amazing out there."

That streak is tied for fourth on the list of longest scoreless innings streaks during a single season since 1961.

At the top of the list is Orel Hershiser's 59 in 1988.

The conversation of Kershaw joining elite company continues. He also joined Sandy Koufax and Juan Marichal as the only pitchers in a single season to win eight straight starts while striking out at least seven batters in each of those games in the last 100 years.

During that streak, Kershaw has a minuscule 0.74 ERA, striking out 80 and walking just six.