LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw put on a superb performance in his 200th win, throwing seven great innings with three hits as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets 5-0 Tuesday night.
JD Martinez netted twice and drove in four carries, scoring four to help the Dodgers end New York’s five-game winning streak.
Kershaw (3-1) struck out nine and passed Mickey Lolich for 22nd on the career list with 2,833 strikeouts. The three-time Cy Young Award winner improved to 200-88 in 405 games (402 starts) over 16 major league seasons — the best winning percentage among the 117 pitchers who won 200 games.
The only one with a lower career ERA than Kershaw is Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.
Kershaw allowed three singles and no walks. He took a one-hitter in the seventh but needed 32 pitches to get through the inning and let out a rare primal scream after defeating Tommy Pham with two ons to retain a 3-0 lead.
Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol completed the four-hitter, Los Angeles’ first shutout of the season.
Kershaw improved to 11-0 in 17 regular season starts against the Mets with a 2.03 ERA and joined Hall of Famers Don Sutton and Don Drysdale as pitchers to help the Dodgers hit the 200-win milestone.
Martinez went deep on his first two at-bats for his 19th multi-homer game of his career as Los Angeles improved to 2-3 in a six-game homestand.
New York is 4-1 to open a 10-game West Coast trip.
Mets right-hander Tylor Megill, a Los Angeles native, gave up three seven-hit runs over five innings in his first career start at Dodger Stadium. Megill (3-1) lost for the first time in four starts this season.
Kershaw’s evening got off to an ominous start when Mets leadoff batter Brandon Nimmo hit a long flyball down right field that Jason Heyward dropped for a three-base error. But then Kershaw escaped the early jam by defeating Starling Marte, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso in turn.
At the end of the first, Freddie Freeman hit a one-out single before Martinez launched a 438-foot drive into midfield. Martinez made it 3-0 in game three as he just overcame the right foot wall on his second home run of the game and third of the season.
The Mets were unbeaten by the fourth against Kershaw until Lindor trailed shortstop Miguel Rojas. They didn’t score their second hit until Mark Canha blooped a two-out single in the seventh to end a 13 pitch-at-bat. Jeff McNeil followed with a single, but Kershaw beat Pham as he roared along with the crowd at Dodger Stadium.
Kershaw retired 10 consecutive batters twice in the outing. He improved to 107-40 in 207 home starts.
TRAINING ROOM
Mets: RHP Justin Verlander (upper back) threw a bullpen and is scheduled to throw live batting practice Sunday. He could start rehab as early as April 28. … RHP Carlos Carrasco was placed on the 15-day injured list with an elbow infection and RHP Jeff Brigham was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. Carrasco was sent back to New York for further testing. … RHP Tommy Hunter (back) is with the Los Angeles team and is about to return from an IL stint.
Dodgers: RF Mookie Betts was set to miss a game during his paternity leave. INF Luke Williams was recalled by Triple-A. … C. Will Smith is not expected to return from seven-day concussion IL if he is eligible Thursday, though he will be with the team for the upcoming road series against the Chicago Cubs. …INF/OF Chris Taylor was out with pain in his left side, with an IL stint not out of the question. … RHP Daniel Hudson (knee) was moved to 60-day IL and won’t be able to return until June.
NEXT
Mets: RHP Max Scherzer (2-1, 4.41 ERA) meets his former team in the series finals Wednesday afternoon.
Dodgers: RHP Noah Syndergaard (0:2, 5.63) also plays against his former team.
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