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.