Forum » world No. 1 seeded 16th at this fortnight, moved on by overcoming

LOS ANGELES -- A pair of Cy Young Awards, three straight major league ERA titles, a 20-win season -- and now a no-hitter. There isnt much more for Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw to accomplish besides winning a World Series ring. Kershaw dominated the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night, striking out a career-high 15 and allowing his only baserunner on a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez in Los Angeles 8-0 victory. Kershaws gem gave the Dodgers both no-hitters in the majors this season. Josh Beckett tossed one May 25 in Philadelphia. "I am so amazed," Kershaw said. "Beckett told me he was going to teach me how to do that, so I have Josh to thank." Cheered on by his wife in the stands, Kershaw (7-2) retired his first 18 batters before Corey Dickerson led off the seventh with a slow bouncer to Ramirez. His throw on the run went wide past first baseman Adrian Gonzalez for a two-base error -- ending any chance for a perfect game. But that was it for the Rockies against the 26-year-old Kershaw, who shrugged off the miscue and came oh-so-close to pitching the 22nd perfecto in the majors since 1900. "He had command of everything. I told him between innings: Its not fair when you have a devastating slider and a devastating curveball in the same night," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. "And when he does that, nights like this are really possible." One batter after Dickerson reached base, rookie third baseman Miguel Rojas backhanded Troy Tulowitzkis grounder behind the bag and let fly with a strong throw to first that Gonzalez -- a three-time Gold Glove winner -- scooped out of the dirt to keep the no-hitter intact. And with the crowd of 46,069 on its feet and roaring, Kershaw made quick work of the Rockies in the ninth. DJ LeMahieu grounded out to first base on the first pitch and Charlie Culberson hit a lazy fly to right field on the next one. Dickerson then saw four straight strikes and went down swinging. The only pitcher to have more strikeouts in a no-hitter was Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, according to STATS. "Ive seen some great pitching performances, but its tough to be any better than Kershaw," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. After his 107th and final pitch, a beaming Kershaw raised his arms above his head and waited for a huge hug from Ellis. "I started tearing up out there in the ninth inning, just sitting out there catching and watching him throw after he got those first two outs," Ellis said. "It was pretty special." "Its something you never forget," he added. "Its a game Ill watch on replays with my kids forever." Moments later, as he was about to be interviewed on the field, Kershaw was doused by teammates with two large buckets. The left-hander with the big-breaking curve also got a big hug from his wife. Kershaw, who signed a $215 million, seven-year contract in the off-season -- a record for a pitcher -- gave Los Angeles sports fans their second memorable thrill in just a few days. The Kings won the Stanley Cup at home last Friday night, their second NHL championship in three years, and brought the famous trophy to Dodger Stadium on Tuesday for a pregame ceremony. The next night, Kershaw took over. The only other time the Dodgers pitched two no-hitters in one season was 1956, when the team was still in Brooklyn. Carl Erskine and Sal Maglie turned the trick that year. Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who tossed four no-hitters, pitched the franchises lone perfect game on Sept. 9, 1965, against the Chicago Cubs. "I guess I havent really thought of the ramifications of throwing one of these things, but its definitely special company," Kershaw said. "Its pretty cool." Ramirez was back in the lineup after leaving Tuesday nights game with a bruised ring finger on his throwing hand, the result of a sharp grounder by Dickerson than deflected into short centre field for a double. Ramirez was replaced on defence by rookie Carlos Triunfel to start the eighth. Kershaw missed more than six weeks early this year because of a strained muscle in his upper back, after beating Arizona in the season opener during the Dodgers two-game trip to Australia. It was the 22nd no-hitter in Dodgers history -- more than any other team -- and the first at home since Ramon Martinezs 2-0 gem against the Marlins on July 14, 1995. "His stuff was phenomenal tonight. I think all the guys said that. We tip our hats to him," Dickerson said. The day after Becketts no-hitter, teammate Hyun-Jin Ryu took a perfect game into the eighth inning against Cincinnati before giving up a leadoff double to Todd Frazier. "As far as individual games go, this is really special. To do it at home is more amazing," Kershaw said before looking up and thanking the crowd. Kershaw received a standing ovation when he came to bat in the eighth, and another one minutes later after finishing the job against one of baseballs top lineups. Playing their home games at hitter-friendly Coors Field, the Rockies began the day leading the majors in batting average, hits, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. They were first in the NL in runs and homers. "There are some guys in that lineup that give him fits," Ellis acknowledged. "But the way he made those guys look tonight was a testament to how good his stuff was. He was pretty dialed in and pretty locked in -- especially as the game progressed." Rojas also supported Kershaw with his bat, hitting a three-run double while continuing to fill in for injured third baseman Juan Uribe. Gonzalez and Matt Kemp each drove in two runs, helping the Dodgers complete their first three-game sweep at home this season. Jorge De La Rosa (6-6) threw 86 pitches over 3 1-3 innings and was charged with eight runs, six hits and five walks. The left-hander is 0-3 with an 8.19 ERA in his last four starts after going 6-0 with a 1.80 ERA during his previous seven outings. NOTES: Ryan threw a record seven no-hitters. He whiffed 17 batters in one of them, 16 in another and 15 in yet another. Warren Spahn (15) and Don Wilson (15) were the only other pitchers with 15 strikeouts in a no-hitter, STATS said. ... San Francisco LHP Jonathan Sanchez was the previous pitcher to throw a no-hitter with the only baserunner reaching on an error, in July 2009 against San Diego, STATS said. ... The last time the Rockies were held hitless, it was by Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo on Sept. 17, 1996. The only other no-hitter against Colorado was pitched by Al Leiter of the Marlins four months earlier. Wholesale Fake Vans .Y. - Terry and Kim Pegula have no immediate plans to tinker with their new NFL team. Fake Vans Toy Story . - New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis says the club has an agreement to bring back outside linebacker Parys Haralson on a one-year deal. http://www.fakevans.com/.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills will head into the regular season short on experience at quarterback after trimming the roster on Friday. Fake Vans Online . James Jones got his turn Sunday. And the lift he brought, combined with the expected playoff showings from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, have the Heat off and running in these playoffs. Fake Vans Store .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday.Flushing Meadows, NY - Taylor Townsend has surely watched Serena Williams dominate first-round opponents at Grand Slams over the years. This time, the 18-year-old was on the business end of it at the U.S. Open. Williams cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory in Tuesdays nightcap against the overmatched Townsend, a left-hander who was two-years old when Williams made her U.S. Open debut in 1998. The two-time reigning U.S. Open champ did not take it easy on the young American, winning 88 percent of the points on her first serve and hitting 16 winners to Townsends eight. Still, Williams was impressed. "Shes incredibly talented," Williams said of Townsend following the match. "Its awesome for American tennis. We have such an amazing future." Earlier, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, rising Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard and former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic were easy first-round victors. The third-seeded Kvitova has now won her last eight Grand Slam matches after flattening the helpless Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 6-0 in 54 minutes at Ashe Stadium. Kvitova captured her second Wimbledon title in four years last month and is fresh off her hardcourt title in New Haven last week. The seventh-seeded Bouchard improved to 17-3 at this years Grand Slam events by blitzing Olga Govortsova 6-2, 6-1, while the eighth-seeded Ivanovic routed American Alison Riske 6-3, 6-0 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The 20-year-old Wimbledon runner-up Bouchard is the only woman to appear in at least the semifinals at this years first three majors. Ivanovic is a former French Open champion. A big upset came when 15-year-old American CiCi Bellis took out 12th-seeded Aussie Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 on Court 6. The San Francisco native and world No. 2 junior Bellis, making her Grand Slam debut, is ranked 1,208th in the world and is the youngest player to win a U.S. Openn match since Anna Kournikova in 1996.dddddddddddd The reigning two-time U.S. Open runner-up and two-time Aussie Open champ Victoria Azarenka, a former world No. 1 seeded 16th at this fortnight, moved on by overcoming Misaki Doi 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-1. The on-the-mend Azarenka missed three months of action this year while being sidelined with a foot injury. Her second-round opponent will be American Christina McHale. A pair of former U.S. Open champs had different results on Day 2, as Marina Erakovic took out 20th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) and 24th-seeded Samantha Stosur handled American Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-4. Kuznetsova titled here 10 years ago and was the Open runner-up in 2007, while Stosur captured her lone Grand Slam singles title in Flushing in 2011. Meanwhile, 11th-seeded Flavia Pennetta held off Julia Goerges 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 and 17th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova erased American Grace Min 6-4, 6-2. In other action involving seeds, No. 15 Carla Suarez Navarro ousted Ajla Tomljanovic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, No. 23 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova crushed Teliana Pereira, 6-2, 6-0, No. 29 Casey Dellacqua erased Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 7-5, 6-3, No. 30 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova subdued Ashleigh Barty 6-1, 6-3, and Mona Barthel upended No. 32 Zhang Shuai 6-1, 6-2. Also, No. 27 American Madison Keys cruised past Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-0, 6-3. In other play featuring Americans, McHale snuck past Chanelle Scheepers 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), Nicole Gibbs downed Caroline Garcia, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, Varvara Lepchenko bested Alison Van Uytvanck 7-5, 6-2, Shelby Rogers beat Ukrainian Maryna Zanevska 6-4, 6-3 and Vania King outlasted former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Several other women reached the second round, including Kaia Kanepi, Sorana Cirstea, Polona Hercog, Elena Vesnina, Monica Niculescu, Aleksandra Krunic, Petra Cetkovska, Karolina Pliskova and Wang Qiang. ' ' '