Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw is NL pitcher of the month

Clayton Kershaw better buy a bigger trophy case.

On Monday he was selected the National League pitcher of the month for July, and there is a sneaky suspicion this won’t be the last time he earns a major honor.

Kershaw, 25, pretty much has been pitching brilliantly all season, but his July was particularly impressive: 4-1 record, a 1.34 earned-run average, a .161 opponents batting average and 43 strikeouts and only two walks in 47 innings.

This is the second time Kershaw has been selected pitcher of the month, the other coming in July 2011, the same year he won the NL Cy Young Award. He is the sixth Dodger to win pitcher of the month at least twice. The award began in 1975.

Kershaw had a seriously impressive July, not that it has been much different that his overall season: 10-6 with a 1.87 ERA, 161 strikeouts and 35 walks in 168 1/3 innings. He leads the majors in ERA and is fifth in strikeouts.

He is next scheduled to pitch Tuesday in St. Louis.