Kershaw gave up six hits, walked none and struck out seven. The 37-year-old left-hander turned in a vintage performance against the Cardinals on Sunday. Kershaw became the all-time leader in games with at least seven strikeouts and zero walks with 65, passing Curt Schilling. He also moved into the top-20 on the all-time strikeout list, passing former teammate Zack Greinke. Kershaw is now just 17 strikeouts away from 3,000. His hall of fame career will continue against the Giants at home next weekend.

Kershaw allowed a run in the first inning on a two base hits and a wild pitch. Juan Soto later took him deep for a two-run shot in the third. The Mets then brought two more unearned runs in on a walk, error, and two hits in the fifth before Kershaw’s day was done with two outs in the frame. He struck out two. The 37-year-old veteran left-hander will carry a 5.17 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, and an 8/9 K/BB ratio across 15 2/3 innings into a start against the Padres in San Diego on Monday.

Kershaw left with a two-run lead, but it didn’t last. This wasn’t exactly vintage Kershaw, as he struck out three and walked two in the 74-pitch outing, but he’s still good enough to retire major league hitters for five or six innings at a time with an 89-mph fastball and mid-80s slider. He’ll face the Mets next week.

Kershaw never returned after a 98-minute rain delay in the third inning. He was effective to that point, but was barely able to get his fastball over 90 mph and didn’t force a single swing-and-miss. Still, he only faced the minimum and faced practically no trouble in those two innings of work.