Kershaw wins 10th in a row

Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw (13-2) scattered nine hits and struck out nine Atlanta batters for a complete game 2-1 win over the Braves tonight, allowing the Dodgers to record their second straight series sweep.

The Dodgers increased their winning streak to six games with an Adrian Gonzalez double in the first inning and a Yasiel Puig homer in the third accounting for all the scoring.

Atlanta’s Julio Teheran (10-7), an All-Star this year, held the Dodgers to five hits through eight innings and struck out nine Dodgers in the loss.

Teheran walked Puig in the first inning and Gonzalez cashed in the base on balls with a double to right field that plated Puig.

Puig then took a Teheran breaking ball into the left field pavilion in the third inning for a 2-0 lead.

The Braves pieced together three hits in the ninth off of Kershaw to close the gap to 2-1 but the Dodger southpaw quelled the uprising when he coaxed Evan Gattis into a ground ball to shortstop Miguel Rojas for a game-ending force at second.

With the win, Los Angeles moved to 3.5 games up on idle San Francisco.

Chicago drops into Chavez Ravine tomorrow for a weekend series with the Dodgers followed by a four-game home and home series against the cross town rival Angels starting Monday.

Kemp plays the hero for the second game in a row

Matt Kemp, three years removed from an MVP-caliber season in 2011 (.324, 39 HR, 126 RBI), played the hero for the Dodgers for the second night in a row tonight, leading Los Angeles to a 3-2 extra innings win over Atlanta.

Kemp drilled a single to left field in the bottom of the 10^th to score Justin Turner and give Los Angeles its fifth straight win. Kemp homered earlier in the game and finished with a 3-for-4 night after clubbing two dingers on Tuesday night.

Kemp’s extra inning heroics bailed out closer Kenley Jansen, who had a blown save in the ninth when he gave up a game-tying homer to Justin Upton that knotted the score at 2-2.

Kemp, hitting .400 over his last 10 games, raised his batting average to .288 and now has 11 round trippers on the season.

Dodger right-hander Zack Greinke hooked up in a pitcher’s duel with Atlanta’s Alex Wood with neither starter getting a decision. Greinke pitched eight innings of five-hit ball and Wood went seven innings and held the Dodgers to six hits.

The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth when Kemp walked, moved to second on a Carl Crawford single and scored when Juan Uribe singled up the middle. Atlanta shortstop Andrelton Simmons knocked down the grounder but his throw to home was not in time to get Kemp.

With the win, the Dodgers remained three games up on San Francisco, 7-5 winners over the Pirates.

The Dodgers will send Clayton Kershaw (12-2, 1.76) to the mound tomorrow night to face Julio Teheran (10-6, 2.71) as Los Angeles will attempt to post its second straight series sweep.

Kemp goes yard twice in 8-4 win over Braves

On a night Josh Beckett didn’t have it, going only four innings before the bullpen was summoned, Matt Kemp hit a pair of two-run dingers and the Dodgers pounded out 15 hits enroute to an 8-4 win over Atlanta in the series opener at Chavez Ravine last night.

Kemp, displeased about being moved out of center field with stints in both left and right, said recently he would be open to a trade. Games like last night, however, will keep him in Dodger blue.

Kemp wasn’t the only Dodger with a hot bat. Yasiel Puig, the new center fielder, went 4-for-5 and scored two runs, Adrian Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with two RBI doubles and Carl Crawford added two RBI in the Los Angeles hit parade.

Atlanta’s Aaron Harang gave up four runs through six innings and left with the score knotted at 4-4.

Anthony Varvaro, who surrendered Kemp’s second long ball, a shot to center, relieved Harang.

The Dodgers added an eighth run in the eighth inning when Dee Gordon singled, stole second and scored on a Gonzalez double.

The Dodgers racked up nine extra base hits with Juan Uribe and Gonzalez getting a pair of doubles, Scott Van Slyke adding a double and Puig adding a double and a triple.

Beckett went 4.1 innings before giving up the mound to Jamey Wright, Brandon League, J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen. Jansen got four outs to get the save and League was credited with the win. The Dodgers’ pen pitched 4.2 innings of shutout ball.

With the win, Los Angeles increased its lead in the NL West to three games over the Giants, 3-1 losers against Pittsburgh.

The Dodgers send Zack Greinke (12-6, 2.74) to the hill tonight in the second game of a three-game set.

Dodgers sweep Giants on the road

Going into this weekend’s series at San Francisco, the Dodgers were 1.5 games behind the Giants in the National League West after trading the top spot since the All-Star break.

But in head-to-head competition, the Giants had the Dodgers’ number.

San Francisco started the season by taking two of three at Dodger Stadium in early April. In mid-
April the Dodgers traveled to San Francisco and the Giants took two out of three again.

In early May, San Francisco returned to Los Angeles and took three out of four against the Dodgers and held a 7-3 record in head-to-head meetings.

The Giants had to believe they were the better team.

All that changed this weekend. The Dodgers swept the Giants to take a 1.5 game lead in the NL West.

Zack Greinke (12-6) threw seven scoreless innings on Friday night and Yasiel Puig had three triples and a double as the Dodgers crushed the Giants 8-1.

On Saturday, Clayton Kershaw (12-2) pitched a complete game shutout and held the Giants to three hits enroute to a 5-0 win. Adrian Gonzalez went three-for-five, Hanley Ramirez had a pair of hits and Juan Uribe had a pair of hits and two RBI as Los Angeles cruised.

Tonight, Hyun-Jin Ryu (12-5) scattered six hits through six innings and gave up three runs as the Dodgers posted a 4-3 win to complete the sweep. Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp had a pair of hits apiece and Carl Crawford had a run-scoring triple to pace the Dodgers.

Perhaps the most dynamic play of the game came when Dee Gordon scored from third when a third strike got away from Giants’ catcher Buster Posey. Posey glanced at third and then threw to first to record the out. Gordon broke for the plate on the throw and beat the return throw to home for a run. Ironically, Gordon had reached first on a third strike wild pitch when Posey couldn’t handle a Jake Peavy breaking ball.

The Los Angeles offense responded to changes in the lineup and batting order with Puig moving to center field and Kemp moving to right. Crawford started all three games in left, leaving Andre Ethier and Scott Van Slyke to platoon where needed.

Dodgers' skipper Don Mattingly said Puig is on a quick learning curve to pick up the nuances of playing center field and Kemp is looking more comfortable in right.

J.P. Howell, Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen finished up for Ryu with Jansen striking out the side in the ninth for the save. After struggling in the first half, the Dodger bullpen has started to hit its stride in the second half.

Ryu gets some offensive backing in 5-2 win

Hyun-Jin Ryu (11-5) held Pittsburgh to two runs on five hits through seven innings tonight as the Dodgers rolled to a 5-2 win to keep pace with San Francisco atop the National League West.

Los Angeles pounded out 12 hits with Adrian Gonzalez going three-for-three and knocking in a run.

Justin Turner, playing short for the injured Hanley Ramirez, contributed with a two-run double and Matt Kemp added a run scoring double for the Dodgers.

Gonzalez had a RBI single and Andre Ethier drove in a run with a ground out for Los Angeles.

The Dodgers roughed up Edinson Volquez for 10 hits over 5.2 innings and flashed some offense on a night Yasiel Puig and Ramirez sat with hand injuries after being hit by pitches in the St. Louis series.

Carl Crawford got the start in left, Ethier remained in center and Kemp moved to right field with Puig out of the lineup.

Turner, Dee Gordon and Juan Uribe had two hits apiece as the Dodgers’ infield produced 10 of the 12 hits.

Brian Wilson, J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen worked two scoreless innings out of the pen as the Dodger relievers continued to show improvement.

Josh Beckett is expected to come off the DL tomorrow to start the second game of a three-game set against the Pirates.

Gonzalez delivers clutch hit in 4-3 win

Adrian Gonzalez punched a two-out single to right field in the ninth inning tonight to pace the Dodgers to a 4-3 win over St. Louis, allowing Los Angeles to avoid a three-game sweep by the Cards.

Gonzalez’ game winner came on a night that Clayton Kershaw was mortal, allowing three runs on six hits, including a two-run homer to Peter Bourjos on a hanging slider.

 

The sixth inning dinger erased a 3-1 Dodgers’ lead and knotted the score at 3-3.

The Dodgers built the lead with some timely hitting from Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, who provided clutch hits in the third inning to give the Dodgers the lead.

Hanley Ramirez was twice hit by pitches, once by starter Carlos Martinez and once by reliever Trevor Rosenthal.

Kershaw caused the St. Louis crowd to stir and boo when he plunked Matt Holliday on the thigh an inning later in apparent retaliation for Ramirez taking a 98 mph fastball in the shoulder.

Lest anyone forget, it was St. Louis pitcher Joe Kelly who plunked Ramirez in the ribs in the playoffs last year, knocking the Los Angeles shortstop out of the lineup and hurting the Dodgers’ chances of advancing in the playoffs.

Kershaw apparently remembered the recent history with St. Louis.

When Ramirez was hit in the wrist in the ninth inning Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly angrily told the umpires Rosenthal should be ejected since the hit batter came after an umpire’s warning.

Ramirez left the game after being hit the second time.

Juan Uribe paced the Dodgers with three hits and Kemp, Ethier and Dee Gordon had a pair of hits apiece.

Miguel Rojas scored the eventual winning run on Gonzalez’ single. Rojas was running for A.J. Ellis, who started the ninth inning with a double to the gap in right center. Ellis, not swift of foot, stumbled into second base ahead of the throw after chugging around first base and steaming into second like only a catcher can.

Brian Wilson, J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen pitched in relief and kept the Cards from getting on the scoreboard.

The win, coupled with a San Francisco loss at Miami, pushed the Dodgers back into a first-place tie with the Giants.

Cards get to Greinke early in 4-2 win over Dodgers

Dodger pitcher Zack Greinke got roughed up in a four-run first inning in St. Louis on Saturday, giving up a run-scoring single to Matt Holliday and a two-run homer to Matt Adams enroute to a 4-2 loss against the Cardinals.

 

St. Louis didn’t score another run in the game – but didn’t need to as Joe Kelly pitched a four-hitter over seven innings to handcuff the Dodgers.

With the loss and a 5-3 Giants’ win over Miami, Los Angeles dropped into second place, a game off the pace in the National

League West.

Dee Gordon was a bright spot for the Dodgers, going three-for-four and scoring in the third inning when he singled, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Hanley Ramirez infield single.

The Dodgers added a run in the eighth when Justin Turner walked, moved to third on a
Gordon double to the gap in right center and scored on a sacrifice fly by Carl Crawford.

The Dodgers will try to salvage the final game of the three-game series tomorrow when Clayton Kershaw (11-2, 1.78) takes the bump against Carlos Martinez (2-4, 4.43).

Cards take series opener

Save for two pitches to Matt Holliday, Dan Haren would have been a winner tonight.

Instead, Holliday clubbed a laser shot double to center field in the first inning and a two-run homer to center in the fifth as St. Louis downed Los Angeles 3-2 to drop the Dodgers into a first place tie with San Francisco.

The Dodgers got on the board in the seventh inning when Juan Uribe doubled to left; A.J. Ellis doubled to the gap in left center and then scored on a wild pitch.

Los Angeles threatened in the third inning with a single by Yasiel Puig sandwiched between walks to Dee Gordon and Adrian Gonzalez to load the bases but Matt Kemp struck out to end the inning.

Cardinals’ pitcher Lance Lynn (11-6) held the Dodgers to two runs on four hits through six innings before the Dodgers mounted a rally in the seventh.

Haren (8-7) gave up three runs on eight hits through 4.2 innings before turning the ball over to Chris Perez, Paco Rodriguez and Brandon League. The three Los Angeles relievers pitched 3.1 innings of no-hit ball.

The Dodgers send Zack Greinke (11-5, 2.73) to the hill tomorrow against Joe Kelly (1-1, 3.44)

Dodgers at mid-season: strength on the mound is key

Ninety-seven games into a 162-game season, the Los Angeles Dodgers hold a precarious one-game lead in the National League West at the All-Star break.

Starting pitching has carried the Dodgers in the first half with Clayton Kershaw (11-2), Zack Greinke (11-5) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (10-5) all on track to finish in 20-win territory. Dan Haren (8-6) and Josh Beckett (6-5) have held their own.

The Dodgers’ bullpen has not been as impressive as the starting staff. Closer Kenley Jansen has a 3.49 ERA with 27 of 30 saves but has appeared shaky at times. Setup man Brian Wilson has a 5.64 ERA and has given up 34 hits in 30.1 innings. J.P. Howell has a 1.32 ERA in 34 innings of work and Brandon League has a 2.09 ERA in 43 innings of work.

Too many games have been lost in the late innings when the bullpen faltered.

Here’s a position-by-position breakdown on the 2014 Dodgers:

Catcher: A.J. Ellis has been injured and appeared in 40 of the 97 games. He handles the job behind the plate but is hitting a paltry .214 with only seven RBI.  Drew Butera is the backup but is hitting .207 only 11 RBI. 

First base: Perennial All-Star Adrian Gonzalez is hitting only .250 but has driven in 60 runs and socked 14 homers. Scott Van Slyke fills in here as well as the outfield and has been a contributor, hitting .266 with eight dingers and 16 RBI.

Second base: A position that was up for grabs in the spring is now Dee Gordon territory. Gordon has come into his own this year, hitting .292 and stealing a league-leading 43 bases. His defense has been stellar as well, earning him a slot in the All-Star game. Gordon played in 91 of 97 games.

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez is hitting .275 with 11 homers and 48 RBI. He has missed some games with injuries but always wields a dangerous bat. His range at short is limited but expect a big second half since he can become a free agent next year.  Rookies Erisbel Arruebarrena and Miguel Rojas have flashed the glove in backup roles but do not have Ramirez’ bat.

Third base: Juan Uribe, limited to 57 games due to injuries, is hitting a hot .297 with five homers and 26 RBI. Justin Turner has played well when given the opportunity, hitting .302 with three homers and 21 RBI in 59 games.

Outfield: What was supposed to be a crowded outfield has not been so much. Carl Crawford played in only 47 games due to injury.  Yasiel Puig made the All-Star team with a .309 average, 12 homers and 52 RBI and has secured the right field spot in the lineup. Andre Ethier moved to center field and Matt Kemp is now the left fielder. Ethier is hitting .253 with four homers and 34 RBI and Kemp is hitting .269 with eight homers and 35 RBI. Van Slyke gives Mattingly another right-handed bat against lefties and can fill in at each of the outfield positions.

On the aggregate, the Dodgers are the seventh best hitting team in the majors with a .258 batting average but are 22^nd in power with only 76 round-trippers.

The Dodger pitchers have posted a team .329 ERA, fifth-best in the majors behind Washington, Oakland, Seattle and San Diego.

The Dodgers (54-43) have the third-best record in the majors after Oakland (59-36) and the LA Angels (57-37).  They have the best record in the National League.

Ryu caps first half with a win

Southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu bounced back from a shelling in Detroit with a two-hitter through six innings yesterday as the Dodgers took three of four from the Padres to end the first half with a one game lead in the NL West.

Ryu (10-5) and relievers Brandon League, J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen posted the 12^th shutout of the year at the break, the most the Dodgers have seen since 1989.

All-Star Dee Gordon scored the only run in the sixth when he singled off Tyson Ross, stole second despite a pitchout and scored when fellow All-Star Yasiel Puig singled to center.

Ryu had 10 strikeouts and admitted the poor outing in Detroit got his attention.

"It was definitely a wake-up call," said Ryu. "Last time I was very forgettable, so I came out today very focused in, and I tried to just remember the basic things I need to do. Specifically, I really had command of my breaking balls today. I was able to get ahead of the count to a lot of players, and that led to a lot of strikeouts." 

At 54-43, the Dodgers have the best record in the National League after going 21-12 since June 9 to erase a 9.5 game deficit in the standings to catch and pass San Francisco.

After the All-Star break, the Dodgers hit the road for a nine-game trip against St. Louis, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.

Maholm delivers with two-hitter

Dodger lefty Paul Maholm, now in his 10^th season, understands his role on the Los Angeles pitching staff.

On occasional starter and bullpen reliever, Maholm entered last night’s game against San Diego with 1-4 record and 5.18 ERA. An injury to Josh Beckett gave him the chance to start for the first time since May 14 and he delivered with a two-hitter through six innings in a 1-0 win over San Diego that pushed the Dodgers a game ahead of the Giants in the NL West.

"In the back of my head, I still want to start every fifth day," said Maholm. "But our rotation has done really well, there's no complaints that way. But I wanted to prove to myself that I can still do it. The last time I started, I gave up 10 runs [five earned]. I've done this a long time. So I was in my comfort zone. It wasn't something different. I just went back to my normal routine."

"I had no expectations coming into the game," he said. "I just went hitter to hitter. I wanted to go deep and didn't want to hang the guys out in the bullpen."

Brandon League, J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen picked up Maholm out of the pen and A.J. Ellis plated Adrian Gonzalez with a sac fly to right in the ninth for the walkoff win.

Gonzalez doubled to right center to open the inning and moved to third on walks to Andre Ethier and Juan Uribe off San Diego reliever Kevin Quakenbush.

San Diego’s Ian Kennedy pitched a three-hitter over eight innings but left the game with no decision.

The Dodgers close out the first half of the season today with Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-5, 3.65) on the bump.

The Dodgers will send Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Dee Gordon and Yasiel Puig to Tuesday’s All-Star game at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Kershaw tosses another gem for Dodgers

After Hyun-Jin Ryu and Zack Grienke faltered earlier in the week, Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw put the team on his shoulders tonight, tossing a three-hit complete game to pace Los Angeles to a 2-1 victory over San Diego and post a one-game lead in the NL West.

Kershaw (11-2) struck out 11 and walked one on a night his scoreless streak was snapped at 41 innings when Chase Headly homered to left center in the top of the sixth.

The Dodgers pushed across a run in the fourth inning off of Odrisamer Despaigne when Yasiel Puig doubled on a sharp liner to left and scored on a Scott Van Slyke single.

The winning run came in the sixth inning when Hanley Ramirez singled to right, stole second, moved to third on a throwing error and scored on a sac fly by Adrian Gonzalez.

San Francisco dropped a 6-1 decision to Oakland to open the door for the Dodgers to move back into first place.

Dan Haren (8-5, 4.06) takes the hill tomorrow night against San Diego.

Tigers take two from Dodgers

If this week’s two-game interleague series against Detroit is any measure, the Dodgers are not quite ready for the American League.

The Tigers routed Los Angeles 14-5 on Tuesday and bested the Dodgers 4-1 yesterday as Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer won duels against Hyun-Jin Ryu and Zack Grienke.

While Grienke pitched well in yesterday’s loss, giving up only three runs on seven hits, Ryu was shelled in the Tigers’ 14-5 laugher.

The Dodgers put up five runs on Verlander in the first inning on Tuesday but after that the wheels came off and Detroit took batting practice on Ryu, Jamey Wright, Chris Perez and Paul Maholm.

The two-game dry spell allowed San Fr

ancisco to tie the Dodgers for first place in the NL West.

Los Angeles will try to return to the win column tonight when they send Clayton Kershaw (10-2, 1.85) to the hill against San Diego in the first game of a four-game series against the Padres. Kershaw is working on a 36-inning scoreless streak.

The Dodgers-Padres series will close out the first half and lead into the All-Star break.

Los Angeles winning the arms race

After dropping two of three to Cleveland at home, the Dodgers righted the ship with a visit to Colorado, winning the first two games of a four-game set Thursday and Friday as Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw turned in back-to-back strong showings on the mound.

Greinke held the Rockies to two runs on Thursday and Juan Uribe won the game with a sharp single to right to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead and eventually the win.

Yesterday, on the Fourth of July, Kershaw continued his brilliance, holding Colorado to two hits through eight innings and extending his scoreless inning streak to 36.

Kershaw had a monster month of June and picked up in July with another shutout. No one has to apologize for making the Koufax comparisons anymore – Kershaw has turned into one of the most dominant pitchers of his generation.

Not needing much run support on the Fourth, Kershaw got the full fireworks show. Yasiel Puig hit a two-run homer and Andre Ethier tripled to the gap in left center and the Dodgers had a 3-0 lead before the Rockies’ faithful could get settled in at Coors Field.

The Dodgers turned it into a laugher in the fifth when Scott Van Slyke hit a towering three-run shot to left and A.J. Ellis and Kershaw produced run-scoring singles to chase the recently acquired Jair Jurrjens.

The Dodgers put up 19 hits against Colorado with Dee Gordon, Ethier and Ellis getting three hits apiece. Gordon had three infield hits and flashed his blazing speed on the base paths.

While the Dodgers were pummeling the Rockies, San Diego was posting a 2-0 win over the collapsing Giants to extend the Dodgers’ lead in the NL West to 1.5 games.

Dan Haren (8-4, 3.57) is on the hill today for the Dodgers.

Dodgers make ascent to the top, then stumble

A day after capturing a half game lead in the NL West, the Dodgers stumbled in Chavez Ravine, dropping a 10-3 decision to Cleveland and falling a half game back of the Giants, 5-0 winners over St. Louis.

Josh Beckett (5-5) gave up five runs on six hits and relievers Jamey Wright and Paul Maholm couldn’t douse the Indians’ firepower in relief, giving up another five runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Dee Gordon went three-for-five to lead the Dodgers on offense, Adrian Gonzalez hit his 14^th homer of the year and Yasiel Puig collected a pair of hits in the loss.

It was the kind of night that saw Gordon thrown out at second and at home and even a rare triple play when Gonzalez flied out to left, Gordon was thrown out at the plate and Puig was gunned down at second.

Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly, who saw his team climb back into the pennant race in June, said the loss was a good reminder that the team is still a work in progress.

"It really was a game that I think just shows us that we still got a lot to continue to work on," said Mattingly. "And tonight had a lot of teaching opportunities for us as we move forward. We just have to continue to get better. And it's just one of those games that shows you you're not where you want to be."

The Dodgers send Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-4, 3.12) to the mound today in the noontime series rubber match.

Next up for the Dodgers is a six-game road trip at Colorado and Detroit followed by a four-game set at Chavez Ravine against the Padres before the All-Star break.

Haren handcuffs Tribe

Good pitching is apparently contagious.

Dan Haren, the No. 5 man in the rotation, pitched a one-hitter through seven innings last night as the Dodgers downed Cleveland 1-0 to take a half-game lead in the National League West over idle San Francisco.

 

Haren (8-4) acknowledged that the peer pressure of pitching with the likes of Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu and Beckett can bring out the best in a pitcher who is five years removed from his all-star days in Arizona and Oakland.

"I've been on good staffs, but it's tough to hold my weight here. Every time out, the guys are dealing. I try to maintain the momentum and haven't done it until today,” said Haren.

Cleveland’s Cory Kluber was equally effective for the Indians until the seventh when Andre Ethier tripled off the glove of center fielder Michael Bourn and was cashed in on a two-out single by Clint Robinson. Robinson’s game winner was his first major league hit.

The Dodgers mustered only six hits off Kluber with Adrian Gonzalez getting a pair.

Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen pitched no-hit ball in the eighth and ninth frames to preserve Haren’s masterpiece.

Josh Beckett (5-4, 2.11) gets the call today against Cleveland.