Darvish records 3,000th pro strikeout across MLB, NPB

San Diego Padres right-hander Yu Darvish quietly made some baseball history at Dodger Stadium on Friday.

Darvish's sixth strikeout of Friday's start was his 3,000th as a professional, counting his time in both Major League Baseball and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He got Cody Bellinger on a check-swing to reach the milestone.

Darvish joins fellow Japanese baseball icon Hideo Nomo as the only pitchers to record 3,000 strikeouts across both professional leagues, according to AJ Cassavell of MLB.com.

Only 19 pitchers in MLB history have recorded 3,000 career strikeouts. The honor is even rarer in Japan, where just four pitchers have reached the mark.

Darvish notched 1,250 strikeouts during his seven seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Since jumping to the majors in 2012, he's notched another 1,751 Ks (through five innings of Friday's start), averaging 174 per season. He's surpassed the 200-strikeout mark in four of his 10 big-league campaigns, including a league-leading 277 with the Texas Rangers in 2013.

The 36-year-old entered Friday's start sporting a 3.41 ERA, 3.33 FIP, and 0.99 WHIP across his first 24 outings for the Padres.