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).