Yu Darvish threw the 3,000th strikeout of his pro career in Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB as he pitched the San Diego Padres to a 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.
The 36-year-old ace is just the second player after Hideo Nomo to reach the milestone while striking out 1,000 both in Japan and in the major leagues. Darvish spent seven years with the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan's Pacific League before moving to MLB in 2012.
"The Dodgers are the strongest team. This is an amazing confidence boost and a big win," said Darvish, who credited his 3,000 strikeouts to his development with the Sapporo-based Fighters.