Kershaw paces Dodgers to 5-1 win over Milwaukee

Reeling from two straight losses to the Brewers, the Dodgers called on Clayton Kershaw to steer the Good Ship Los Angeles back on course today and the ace lefty did the job, holding Milwaukee to one run on six hits enroute to a 5-1 victory.

Kershaw didn’t have his best stuff, but pitched out of trouble on more than one occasion to notch his 14^th win against only two losses and lower his ERA to 1.78.

Kershaw is on track to win his third Cy Young Award in four years.

Kershaw did it all for the Dodgers, making a diving catch to spoil a squeeze play and double up a runner at third; scored when he got aboard on a walk; and drove in a run with a line single to left field.

Oh, and he picked a runner off first base for good measure.

Offensively, the Dodgers backed up their ace with 14 hits, including three hits by light-hitting shortstop Miguel Rojas and a solo homer by A.J. Ellis, his first of the year. Ellis nearly had a second homer in the ninth but left fielder Khris Davis made a circus catch at the wall to deny him.

Adrian Gonzalez continued his feasting on Brewers’ pitching, knocking a pair of doubles and two RBI to finish with a 7-for-10 series with five RBI and five extra-base hits, including two dingers.

"I've got a good feeling right now," said Gonzalez. "I'm a very streaky hitter, so I hope I continue doing that. I've been really good in spurts and really bad in spurts."

Matt Kemp continued his post-All Star resurgence, getting a pair of hits and an RBI to raise his average to .284.

Carl Crawford and Juan Uribe added a pair of hits apiece.

Milwaukee hurt themselves on the base paths throughout the evening. In the third inning, pitcher Jimmy Nelson doubled down the right field line but then got thrown out at third on a Carlos Gomez grounder to Rojas at short.

Kershaw then picked off Gomez to quell any rally the Brewers might have been piecing together.

In the fourth, Ryan Braun singled to center and moved to second on a wild pitch by Kershaw. Braun then got greedy and tried to take third on ball in the dirt but Ellis gunned down Braun on a bang-bang play at third. Initially called safe on the play, Braun was eventually called out when Mattingly challenged the call and got an instant replay review.

In the fifth, Rickie Weeks doubled to right and moved to third on an infield out. Juan Segura then tried a squeeze bunt to score Weeks but Kershaw came off the mound in a dive, caught the ball fully extended and doubled up Weeks at third.

The Dodgers continue their road trip tomorrow with the opener of a four-game set against Atlanta.

With San Francisco’s 7-4 loss at Kansas City, the Dodgers moved to 4.5 games in first place in the NL West.

Kershaw will try to salvage series finale

Baseball seasons, like our lives, have ebbs and flows.

Coming off a series win against the Angels, the Dodgers went into Milwaukee this weekend and promptly dropped the first two games of the series.

The only saving grace in the losses was the fact that San Francisco was likewise losing against Kansas City, allowing the Dodgers to maintain a 3.5 game edge in the NL West.

The Dodgers look to ace lefty Clayton Kershaw to stop the bleeding today when he goes up against rookie Jimmy Nelson.

Kershaw (13-2) has a 1.82 ERA and an even  better 1.01 ERA over his last 10 starts. He hasn't lost since May 28. Kershaw had a rough early few innings in his last start against the Angels but rebounded to shut down the cross town rivals the rest of the game.

The Dodgers will be without shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who is expected to go to the DL with an oblique injury. Ramirez, when healthy, wields one of the most dangerous bats in baseball. Sadly, he has not been healthy for a full season in recent years.

A bright note for the Dodgers has been the hitting of Adrian Gonzalez the last two games. Gonzalez went yard in both games and might be breaking out of a slump that saw his batting average drop into the .250 range.

After today's matchup against the Brewers the Dodgers head to Atlanta for a four-game set with the Braves. Atlanta is still smarting from a three-game series sweep at the hands of the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine last week and will be seeking retribution.

Dodgers take three of four from Angels

Going into this week’s four-game home and home series with the Angels, it figured to be the Dodgers’ aces, Clayton Kershaw and Zack Grienke, against Angels’ sluggers Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton.

But when the dust settled Thursday night, Greinke had been shelled in a 5-0 loss ad Kershaw had a rocky start and left without a decision. The Dodgers heroes were Dan Haren, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez.

Haren, who was 0-5 in his last five starts with a 10 plus ERA, tossed a three-hitter through 7.1 innings to beat the Angels 2-1 Wednesday night. Haren retired the first 16 batters he faced to get the win.

Matt Kemp homered to continue his resurgence and Andre Ethier slashed a run-scoring double to pace the Dodgers.

Ryu pitched last night and tossed a masterful two-hitter through seven innings with Jamey Wright and Pedro Baez pitching in relief in the Dodgers’ 7-0 win. Baez showed a strong arm, hitting the gun at 98-99 mph.

Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez had bases-loaded hits, Miguel Rojas played a suffocating shortstop and Yasiel Puig made a run-saving catch off the wall in left center to keep the Angels off the scoreboard.

On Wednesday night, Puig showed off his arm, gunning down Hank Conger trying to move from first to third on a single to center.

After sweeping the Giants and the Braves and then stumbling against Chicago, the Dodgers dropped the first game against the Angels then rolled off three straight wins over  one of the top teams in the American League.

Los Angeles faces a grueling road trip this week with games at Milwaukee and Atlanta before returning to Chavez Ravine next Friday.

The Dodgers head out of town with a 3.5 game lead in the National League West.

Dodgers edge Angels 5-4 in thriller

Andre Ethier is the forgotten man on the Los Angeles Dodgers roster. Once a star, Ethier is now on the outside looking in with Carl Crawford, Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp holding down the starting outfield jobs and Scott Van Slyke getting spot starts.

But tonight, with one out and runners on first and third in the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Ethier slapped a Kevin Jepsen pitch to third base where David Freese, playing in tight to prevent the run at the plate, bare-handed the soft tapper and fired to Chris Iannetta at the plate.

Freese’s throw arrived at home the same time Juan Uribe reached the plate and Iannetta could not hold onto the throw, allowing Uribe to score the winning run and post a 5-4 victory.

Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw gave up two runs in the second and another in the third inning with Iannetta and Freese hitting back-to-back doubles to spark the Angels. Kershaw went seven innings but left without a decision.

Down 2-0, Uribe answered in the bottom of the second with a three-run shot to left to score Kemp and Van Slyke.

The Angels tied the score in the third when Mike Trout and Pujols hit back-to-back doubles off Kershaw.

Kershaw settled down after the third inning, however, pitching no-hit ball for the next four innings and striking out five batters.

The Dodgers took a 4-3 lead in the sixth when Kemp reached first on a throwing error by Freese, stole second and went to third when Iannetta’s throw skipped into center field. Van Slyke then cashed him in with a sac fly to center.

Pujols knotted the game at 4-4 in the eighth when he went yard on Brian Wilson, crushing a fastball into the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth and struck out the side, setting down Freese, Iannetta and Collin Cowgill.

Uribe started the ninth inning rally when he singled to right off of Jepsen and moved to third on a single up the middle by A.J. Ellis, hitting a paltry .190. Uribe was able to go to third on the play because he was running on the pitch and kept motoring into third.

Ethier then got the walk-off with his tapper to third that was enough to score Uribe.

San Francisco lost tonight, putting the Dodgers up 2.5 games in the National League West.

Angels blank Dodgers in series opener

After dropping two of three to the last place Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers continued to look sluggish tonight, falling to the cross town Angels 5-0 in the opening game of a home-and-home four game set.

Zack Greinke gave up four runs in the first inning and Garrett Richards pitched a complete game five-hitter for the Angels to quiet the Los Angeles offense.

Doubles by Albert Pujols and Mike Trout sparked the Angels’ first inning rally and a throwing error by Hanley Ramirez added the fourth run.

Josh Hamilton hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to cap the scoring.

The Dodgers’ loss, coupled with a San Francisco win against the Mets, cut the lead in the National League West to 1.5 games.

The Dodgers will try to right the ship tomorrow night when ace Clayton Kershaw goes to the mound.

Ramirez clubs walk off homer in 12th inning

Hanley Ramirez deposited a Blake Parker breaking ball deep into the bullpen beyond the left field fence in the bottom of the 12th inning tonight to give the Dodgers a dramatic 5-2 extra innings walk off win over the Cubs to extend the Los Angeles lead in the NL West to 3.5 games.

The Dodgers scored two runs in the first inning on a Matt Kemp two-run shot to left and put up zeroes for 10 innings before Ramirez sent home a soggy, depleted but happy Dodger Stadium crowd that endured a 4:39 marathon and a light rain that settled in over the last several innings.

The Dodgers started the game with Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez on the bench with minor injuries but before the night was over both had been used as pinch hitters.

Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up two runs on nine hits over seven innings but left without a decision.

Brandon League, J.P. Howell, Kenley Jansen, Brian Wilson and Jamey Wright came out of the pen in relief with Wright getting the win for pitching the 11^th and 12^th frames.

Ramirez finished with a 3-for-5 night and Dee Gordon and Justin Turner added a pair of hits apiece.

Kemp’s first inning homerun was his fourth round-tripper in five games.

After being stymied by Chicago pitching, the Dodgers 12^th inning two-out rally started with a Gordon single up the middle and a walk to Turner. Ramirez then smoked a breaking ball from Blake Parker and the bubbles started flowing.

Josh Beckett takes the hill tomorrow in the series finale. 

Cubs end Dodgers’ winning streak at six

After rolling through the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves like a steamroller, the Dodgers stumbled against a last-place Chicago club last night, dropping an 8-2 decision at Chavez Ravine.

Dan Haren (8-9) was shelled for seven runs on eight hits through 4.1 innings and Cubs’ rookie Kyle Hendricks held Los Angeles to four hits and two runs through seven innings for the win.

Don Mattingly said after the game that his squad would get a “pass” on the sub par performance and move on.

Chicago shortstop Starlin Castro led the Cubs with three hits in five trips and third-sacker Luis Valbuena took Haren yard to knot the score at 1-1 in the second inning.

Haren’s dismal outing should raise concerns in Los Angeles where the No. 4 and No. 5 starters in the rotation, Josh Beckett and Haren, have struggled as of late. Beckett is dealing with a hip injury and Haren has been off his game.

The Dodgers passed on several starting pitchers before the trade deadline because the asking price – several top prospects – was considered too high. Outfielder Joc Pederson, infielder Corey Seager and pitcher Julio Urias drew the most interest but the Dodgers said the trio was off the table. The Dodgers could still acquire a pitcher on waivers in August and expect the Dodgers to be shopping.

Spot starter Paul Maholm left last night’s game with a knee injury and is not expected back this season.

Dodgers’ GM Ned Colletti may be looking to the farm system where Albuquerque’s Zach Lee and Rancho Cucamonga’s Chris Anderson are considered the top prospects likely to get a call up in 2014.

Fireballer Grant Holmes was drafted with the 22^nd pick in the 2014 draft but is not yet ready for the show.

The Dodgers send Hyun-Jin Ryu (12-5, 3.44) to the mound tonight in the second game of a three game series with the Cubs.