Heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Dodgers, the White Sox were hoping to avoid being part of history. Clayton Kershaw entered the night just three strikeouts shy of 3,000 for his career, a milestone only 19 pitchers in MLB history had reached.
The White Sox offense didn’t make it easy for the three-time Cy Young Award winner. Kershaw needed 100 pitches to hit the mark, finally recording strikeout No. 3,000 on his final pitch of the night — an 85 mph slider that froze Vinny Capra for a called third strike.
While Kershaw gained all the attention and fanfare, the best pitching performance of the evening came courtesy of Sean Burke. The White Sox used an opener for Burke, who entered the game in the second inning after Brandon Eisert allowed a solo homer to Will Smith in the first inning.
The night got off to a rough start for the 25-year-old, who allowed a homer to Andy Pages on his first offering of the game. But 87 pitches later, Burke was walking off the mound in line for the win after throwing six innings of one-run ball, after holding the Dodgers to six hits, a walk, and five strikeouts.
Burke’s outing got off to a rocky start after his first pitch of the night was taken deep by Andy Pages. But the 25-year-old quickly settled in. Eighty-seven pitches later, Burke walked off the mound in line for the win after delivering six strong innings of one-run ball, allowing just six hits and one walk while striking out five.
The performance lowered his ERA to 4.03 on the season and served as a reminder as to why Burke was named the team’s Opening Day starter. The Dodgers’ offense leads the MLB in runs scored, hits, and homers, but struggled to string together rallies once Burke settled in.
The defining moment of Burke’s outing came in the bottom of the sixth. With his pitch count climbing, he plunked Will Smith and gave up a single to Freddie Freeman to open the inning. But the Massachusetts native calmly worked out of the jam, getting Andy Pages to fly out to center before striking out Enrique Hernández and Michael Conforto to end the threat and cap off his night.
The strikeout marked the 95th of his career, putting him just 2,905 shy of Kershaw.
Of the 18 outs he recorded, five of them were groundouts, a promising sign for a pitcher who has just a 34% ground ball rate on the season.
With the White Sox clinging to a 4-2 lead in the ninth, Sean Burke appeared poised to earn his fifth win of the season. But the bullpen couldn’t hold on. Grant Taylor was charged with three runs in the inning, capped off by a walk-off single from Mookie Betts off Steven Wilson that sealed a 5-4 Dodgers comeback.
“It’s a tough way to end it,” White Sox manager Will Venable told reporters after the game. “But some really good stuff out there.”
