LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw agreed Wednesday to a $215 million, seven-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press, a deal that makes the two-time Cy Young Award winner baseballs first player with a $30 million average salary. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been announced. Kershaw receives the most lucrative deal for a pitcher, breaking the mark of $180 million set by Justin Verlander last March for his seven-year contract with Detroit. Kershaw would have been eligible for free agency after the upcoming season if the new deal hadnt been reached. He was eligible for salary arbitration, and those figures were set to be exchanged on Friday. He was coming off a two-year, $20 million deal that included $200,000 in bonuses in 2012, a $500,000 escalator to his 2013 base salary, and $300,000 in bonuses last year. General manager Ned Colletti said last week that both sides had been negotiating. "Its our desire to sign him here for a very long time," Colletti said. The average salary of $30.7 million tops the previous high of $27.5 million, set by the New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez as part of a 10-year agreement from December 2007. While Roger Clemens had a contract with a listed salary of $28 million with the Yankees in 2007, he joined the team in June and actually made $17.4 million. The Dodgers had baseballs second-highest payroll at the end of the regular season last fall -- more than $236 million. Kershaws agreement, first reported by ESPN.com, is baseballs seventh of $200 million or more. Among current contracts, it trails only the agreements of Rodriguez, Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto ($251.5 million over 12 years), Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols ($240 million over 10 years) and Seattle second baseman Robinson Cano ($240 million over 10 years). A left-hander who turns 26 in March, Kershaw won NL Cy Young Awards in 2011 and 2013. He was 16-9 for the NL West champion Dodgers last year and led the league with 232 strikeouts, and his 1.83 ERA was the best in the major leagues since Pedro Martinezs 1.74 for Boston in 2000. He has led the NL in ERA in each of the last three years. Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis tweeted: "Big winner today......me. I am blessed to catch best in the game for foreseeable future God willing. Congrats Kersh!" Teammate Matt Kemp chimed in, tweeting, "Congrats 2 the best pitcher in baseball and great teammate (at)ClaytonKersh22 on his deal!" Kershaw has been a powerful, yet low-key, presence on the team. In the off-season, the Dallas native has worked to build a charitable legacy alongside his wife, Ellen. The couple has made yearly trips to Africa, where his foundation that focuses on helping at-risk children built an orphanage. The deal signifies further stability for a club that was in turmoil under former owner Frank McCourt, who sold the team to a group that includes Magic Johnson in 2012. The Dodgers signed manager Don Mattingly to a three-year deal last week and now have locked up their ace. Last year, Kershaw pitched a career-high 259 innings between the regular season and the playoffs. The season ended on a sour note when he pitched a rare clunker in the Dodgers 9-0 loss to St. Louis in the NL championship series that eliminated them. Still up for discussion this winter is a new deal for Hanley Ramirez, who hit a team-leading .345 and played hurt during the NLCS. He has one year left on his contract. Boomer Esiason Youth Jersey .C. -- Tony Stewart will not race Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, the third Sprint Cup race hes skipped since his car struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. Germaine Pratt Jersey . - The Detroit Lions have placed tight end Brandon Pettigrew on injured reserve, ending his season. http://www.bengalsrookiestore.com/Bengals-Boomer-Esiason-Jersey/ . The Extreme Heat Policy was enacted at Melbourne Park just before 2 p.m. Thursday, suspending all matches on outer courts until the early evening and requiring the closure of the retractable roofs at Rod Laver and Hisense arenas before play could continue on the show courts. Boomer Esiason Womens Jersey . So far, so good: Gonzalez has allowed one run through 12 innings this season. His second start came Tuesday night, when he gave up only three singles over six innings to lead the Nationals to a 5-0 victory over the Miami Marlins. Jessie Bates III Bengals Jersey .ca. Kerry, In the first period of Saturdays Montreal-Ottawa game, Brendan Gallagher is called for goaltender interference. Craig Anderson is outside the blue paint trying to make the save.WASHINGTON -- As he nears the end of his rookie season, Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler has talked lately about being tired. On Saturday night, he made the Washington Nationals look listless. Wheeler pitched effectively into the seventh inning and New York piled up a season-high 17 hits in routing the Nationals 11-3. Wheeler (7-3) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings, striking out three and walking one. Since the start of July, the touted rookie is 6-2 with a 2.96 ERA. "Because hes throwing strikes," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Hes not trying to strike people out. With the great arm that he had, people were looking for that and I think when he got up here he thought he had to do that." Eric Young Jr., Daniel Murphy, Josh Satin and Juan Lagares had three hits apiece for New York, which scored 11 runs for the second time in three days and won its third straight. The news wasnt all good for the injury-riddled Mets, though. Ike Davis left with a strained muscle on his right side after hitting a sacrifice fly in the third, and Collins said the first baseman is probably done for the season. The Nationals, who dropped 7 1/2 games behind Cincinnati for the second NL wild card, have lost the first two games of the series. Denard Span had three hits for Washington, extending his hitting streak to 14 games. Dan Haren (8-12) allowed seven runs and nine hits in 2 2-3 innings, his shortest start of the season. The Mets have won 10 of Wheelers 14 starts, and he improved to 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA on the road. Wheeler allowed two runs in the sixth but went back out for the seventh, getting the first two outs before he gave up a single and was pulled after 99 pitches. "(I) also know what hes saying about getting a little tired," Collins said. "Hes the one who came in after the sixth inning and said he wanted to go back out there. I said, Then stop telling everybody youre tired, and you will get back out there." Wheeler responded, "My (velocity) is not up so obviously Im a little tired, but once you get out there and get going, you dont even know about it." The win was tempered by the loss of Davis, who was demoted to the minors in June. Now, hes likely headed to the disabled list. "I doubt we see him," Collins said. "I feel terrible for Ike. He went to the minor leagues. He worked very hard on some things. Caame back, started to see some signs .dddddddddddd and 2013s going to go down as a real frustrating year for Ike Davis." Davis hit .290 (20 for 69) in August. Haren, who had been pitching well since a stint on the DL, has given up 11 earned runs over 9 2-3 innings in his last two starts. "I tried to battle, but it seemed like everything they put in play was a hit," Haren said. The Mets got two in the second. With one out, Travis dArnaud and Lagares singled. After Haren fanned Matt den Dekker, Omar Quintanilla hit a drive to right-centre just beyond the reach of a diving Span for a two-run double. In the third, the Mets sent 11 batters to the plate. Young led off with a single, stole second and scored on a single by Murphy. With Murphy running, Satin singled to left, putting runners on first and third. Davis drove in Murphy with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. After dArnaud singled, Lagares singled to right, and Jayson Werths throw to the plate cut down Satin. But den Dekker followed with his first major league hit, a single that scored dArnaud and ended Harens night. Consecutive walks, the second one to Wheeler, forced in a run, and Young capped the inning with a two-run single to make it 8-0. "Everything that could go wrong in the second and third inning did," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. Washington got two back in the sixth on Werths sacrifice fly and Ian Desmonds RBI single. NOTES: Lucas Duda replaced Davis at first base. New York also is missing All-Star third baseman David Wright, closer Bobby Parnell and several starting pitchers due to injuries -- including young ace Matt Harvey. ... Desmond added his 34th double of the season, a career high. ... Johnson was back in the dugout one night after leaving in the fourth inning due to dehydration. ... Johnson said he would speak to Bryce Harper regarding Harper not hustling after hitting a grounder to second in the eighth inning of Friday nights 3-2 loss. Johnson added that Harper might be favouring his left knee, which he injured earlier this year. Harper missed 31 games due to bursitis in the knee and Johnson said minor off-season surgery to remove a bursa sac is an option. ... Young stole a base for the fourth straight game. ... LHP Jonathon Niese (6-6, 3.69 ERA) opposes Washington RHP Ross Ohlendorf (2-0, 2.58) in the series finale Sunday night. ' ' '