Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw Set To Make MLB History With Rare Reunion
In this story:
A pair of future Hall-of-Famers are set to match up at Dodger Stadium- Max Scherzer from the Toronto Blue Jays and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Barring neither scratches they will go down in MLB history.
More News: Blue Jays Pitching Performances at Coors Field Overlooked After Historic Series
The pair debuted against each other on September 7, 2008 when Scherzer was still with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Per Sarah Langs of MLB this will be the first duo in MLB history to start against each other as rookies and then go on to accumulate over 3,000 strikeouts in their careers.
September 7, 2008 Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers
Now, a game with a matchup of a pair of rookie pitchers doesn't usually draw as much as attention as this one does and that is because of who was suppose to be pitching. A pair of current Hall-of-Famers: Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux.
Fans bought tickets originally expecting to see a duel between a 5x Cy Young award winner (Johnson) and an 18x Gold Glove Award winner (Maddux). Instead, they saw a matchup with a 24-year-old Scherzer who had yet to win a game in his MLB career and a 20-year-old Kershaw.
More News: Could Shane Bieber Be the Blue Jays’ Hidden Wild Card for the Stretch Run?
Even though the Diamondbacks took a 5-3 loss, Scherzer was incredible. He finished five full innings struck out 11 and walked one.
Scherzer vs. Kershaw 2025 Season Stats
Kershaw has the upper hand in some areas going into this game. Scherzer has only started in eight games, but gone 2-1 in that span. He's posting a 4.39 ERA with 44 strikeouts, eight walks, and a WHIP of 1.05
The Dodger, on the other hand, has gone 5-2 in 13 starts with an ERA of 3.29. Kershaw has pitched 20 more innings than Scherzer, though, and has thrown fewer strikeouts (42) and more walks (18).
Both of their last starts are somewhat comparable. The pair both finished six full innings, but the Blue Jay arguably had the better outing. They both had five hits in their games, finished with a win, but Scherzer struck out six compared to Kershaw's three.
A Quick Look at their Careers
These two will go down in the record books in a multitude of ways past this game.
More News: Can Blue Jays Carry Over Historic Hitting Performance Into Series Against Dodgers?
This matchup will have two pitchers who have a combined 6,461 strikeouts with an average ERA of 2.85 in 910 starts.
Both have won the Cy Young Award three different times while being selected to the All-Star teams 19 total times (8x for Scherzer and 11x for Kershaw).
This game means a lot for both squads besides the story on the mound. The Blue Jays are being tested on the road against one of the best teams in baseball and are looking to keep climbing the power rankings as all eyes are on the postseason.
For more Blue Jays news, head over to Blue Jays On SI.
Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.