Giants roll 9-0 in series opener

Hyun-Jin Ryu  left the game after one inning with shoulder pain and San Francisco inflicted pain of its own last night enroute to a 9-0 waxing of the Dodgers in the first game of a three game set by the bay.

The Giants, who have now won 10 in a row at home, pulled to within a game of the Dodgers in the NL West with Zack Greinke going against Tim Hudson tonight and Clayton Kershaw slated to take the mound tomorrow against Yusmiero Petit.

Ryu pitched well after coming off the DL for a hip muscle pull but was not ready to face the Giants last night. 

The Giants pounded out 12 hits against Dodger pitcher while Madison Bumgarner and Juan Gutierrez held the Dodgers to three hits in the one-sided affair.

Momentum is definitely in the Giants favor and it will be up to Greinke and the Los Angeles offense to win it back.

Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Brandon Crawford and Joaquin Arias each had a pair of hits for San Francisco.

Haren, Crawford pace Dodgers over Padres

Dan Haren tossed a four-hit shutout over seven innings last night and Carl Crawford exploded for four hits, three of them doubles, as the Dodgers posted a 4-0 win over San Diego to maintain a 2.5 game lead in the NL West.

The Dodgers have a travel day today to make the trip to San Francisco for a critical three game series with the Giants with the pennant up for grabs.

Haren, who relies on location and off-speed pitches to maneuver through an opposing team’s lineup, hit his spots and pitched out of a couple of jams to get the win. Haren has won five of his six starts since August 1 and posted a Kershaw-like 1.70 ERA over that span.

Crawford raised his batting average to .289 with the four-for-four night as the Dodgers kept the Giants at bay in the standings.

J.P. Howell and Kenley Jensen pitched no-hit ball in the eighth and ninth frames and Hanley Ramirez and Juan Uribe had RBI hits for Los Angeles. Justin Turner, starting for Dee Gordon at second, had a pair of hits for the Dodgers.

Los Angeles will start Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-6, 3.16) against Madison Bumgarner (17-6, 3.02) on Friday; Zack Greinke (14-8, 2.73) against Tim Hudson (9-10, 3.12) on Saturday; and Clayton Kershaw (18-3, 1.67) against Yusmiero Petit (5-3, 3.62) on Sunday in the weekend series at San Francisco. 

San Francisco will visit Los Angeles for a three-game set later this month as the two rivals battle down the stretch for the pennant.

Dodgers sweep Arizona, move to three games up

Adrian Gonzalez is a snake killer.

He specializes in Diamondbacks, those that grow in Arizona.

Gonzalez hit two three-run homers today to back up Zack Greinke (14-8) as the Dodgers posted a 7-2 win over the D-Backs for a sweep of their three game series.

San Francisco dropped a 6-1 decision at Detroit, pushing the Dodgers to a three-game lead in the National League West.

Gonzalez is hitting over .400 against Arizona this year and went yard three times this weekend.

Matt Kemp, who seems to be returning to All-Star form more and more every day, homered in Friday’s 2-1 win and went yard today in the series finale.

Greinke struggled early today, giving up a pair of runs in the second and third frames before settling down to put up a six-inning performance. Carlos Frias and Brandon League pitched in relief, holding the D-Backs hitless for three innings and striking out five.

Frias had a strong outing as a starter last week and was dominant today in relief, hitting the gun at 95 mph and showing excellent control.

Hyun-Jin Ryu did not get a decision in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Arizona but did go 6.2 innings and hold the D-Backs to two runs on seven hits and struck out nine. Jamey Wright, Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen pitched out of the pen for the win, Jansen posting his 41^st save.

Dee Gordon and Hanley Ramirez had big hits in Saturday’s win.

On Friday, Dan Haren (12-10) turned in a strong showing on the mound, holding Arizona to one run on four hits through six innings and notching six strikeouts. Kemp had a solo homer and Haren and Ramirez had key hits to pace the Dodgers’ offense.

Pedro Baez, J.P. Howell, Wilson and Jansen pitched in relief.

Frias and Baez have shored up the bullpen and with Clayton Kershaw, Greinke and Ryu at the top of the rotation, the Dodgers pitching staff is emerging as one of the best in baseball.

The Dodgers host San Diego for a three-game set starting tomorrow before heading to San Francisco for a critical three-game set against the Giants next weekend. Kershaw (17-3, 1.70) takes the hill for the Dodgers tomorrow.

Kershaw dominating in 4-1 win over Nats

Clayton Kershaw became the first 17-game winner in the majors last night, tossing a brilliant three-hitter against Washington to pace the Dodgers to a 4-1 win.

The only blemish on Kershaw’s gem was a seventh inning home run by Bryce Harper that carried well into the right field bleachers.

Kershaw was locked in a scoreless pitcher’s duel with Washington’s Doug Fister going into the bottom of the fifth when the Dodgers’ hurler decided to take matters into his own hands – and legs.

Kershaw worked the count to 3-2 then singled up the middle. Dee Gordon then hit a tapper up the middle and Kershaw put on the jets, going from first to third in front of a startled Harper in center. Harper’s throw to third was high and wide and when the dust had settled the Dodgers had runners on second and third with one out.

After Hanley Ramirez grounded out to short with the infield in, Adrian Gonzalez, a master at opposite field hitting, rolled a grounder into the hole between third and short. Washington’s Ian Desmond back handed the grounder but bobbled the ball and couldn’t make a throw to first. Gordon rounded third and tried to score on the play and Desmond, who had him dead to rights, air mailed the throw to home about five feet over the catcher’s head and the Dodgers owned a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth Los Angeles gave Kershaw a little more breathing room when Carl Crawford lined a single to right and Juan Uribe unloaded on a line shot homer run to left for a 4-0 lead.

Uribe has been swinging a hot bat since coming off the DL on Sunday.

Kenley Jansen came on in the ninth and struck out the side, notching his 39^th save. Kershaw (17-3) finished with eight strikeouts and lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.70.

Los Angeles Manager Don Mattingly sat the struggling Yasiel Puig in center and started rookie Joc Pederson, who notched his first major league hit and drew a walk. Gonzalez, Crawford and A.J. Ellis led Los Angeles with two hits apiece.

The Dodgers will send rookie Carlos Frias, recently called up from the minors, to the mound in today’s high noon rubber match against Washington’s Jordan Zimmerman (10-5, 2.93).

With the win the Dodgers maintained a two-game lead over the Giants, who stormed back from a 7-1 deficit to down the Rockies 12-7 at Coors Field.

Hernandez gives up four dingers in 6-4 loss to Nats

Right-hander Roberto Hernandez gave up four home runs in 4.1 innings of work today as Washington posted a 6-4 win over the Dodgers, who saw their lead in the NL West shrink to two games over the Giants.

The Dodgers send Clayton Kershaw (16-3, 1.73) to the hill tomorrow against Washington’s Doug Fister (12-5, 2.55).

Denard Span took Hernandez deep twice, Jayson Werth drilled a solo shot and Asdrubal Cabrera went yard off the struggling Hernandez, who saw his record with the Dodgers evened at 2-2.

Matt Kemp continued his torrid hitting with a two-run homer to right center in the first inning and Juan Uribe had another strong outing since coming off the DL on Sunday, getting two hits and knocking in a pair. Kemp added a single late in the game.

The Dodgers threatened in the ninth when the slumping Yasiel Puig drew a walk, Uribe singled to center and Carl Crawford hit a pinch-hit single to center. Rookie Joc Pederson, called up from AAA Albuquerque this weekend, came to the plate with two outs and the tying run at first but took a called third strike to end the game.

San Francisco split a pair of games against the Rockies, winning 4-2 in a continuation game earlier in the day and then dropping a 10-9 decision to Colorado in the nightcap. With the split and the Dodgers’ loss, San Francisco picked up a half game in the standings.

Ryu wins in return to rotation

Southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-6) returned to the mound today in San Diego after a stint on the DL and showed no signs of rust, holding the Padres to one run on four hits through seven innings to get the win in a 7-1 decision.

With the victory, Los Angeles maintained a 2.5 game lead over San Francisco, which swept Milwaukee behind a 15-5 pasting.

Juan Uribe also returned to the Dodger lineup and had a pair of hits and two RBI.

The Dodgers led 2-1 going into the eighth inning and busted the game open with a four-run inning that featured an Adrian Gonzalez opposite field single, a line drive double off the wall by Matt Kemp and run-scoring singles by Uribe and Darwin Barney.

Kemp scored on a wild pitch by Jesse Hahn that bounced off the backstop. Yasmani Grandal took the ball off the carom and had Kemp beat at the plate but Kemp artfully avoided the tag and was ruled safe.

The Dodgers added another run in the ninth when Uribe drilled a double to left center to score Carl Crawford.

Scott Van Slyke and Kemp had RBI singles to give the Dodgers the 2-1 lead.

Gonzalez went 4-for-5 and Kemp and Uribe had two hits apiece. Pedro Baez pitched the eighth and ninth frames, holding the Padres hitless and striking out two.

The Dodgers return to Chavez Ravine tomorrow to kick off a three-game series against the Washington Nationals. Roberto Hernandez will get the ball.

Padres look to sweep struggling Dodgers

After dropping two extra innings games at San Diego Friday and Saturday, the Dodgers will try to salvage a game and avoid a sweep when they send Hyun-Jin Ryu to the hill today against Eric Stults.

Ryu is coming off the DL after a pulled hip muscle and will try to snap the skid in San Diego.

Dan Haren and Zack Greinke pitched well in the two losses but the Dodger bats have been relatively quiet. Justin Turner and Hanley Ramirez went yard in Friday’s 3-2 loss in 12 innings and Adrian Gonzalez smacked a round-tripper yesterday’s 2-1 loss but in both games it was not enough.

Yasiel Puig is mired in a hitting slump and Dee Gordon has cooled off as the two All-Stars have struggled. Turner is hitting above .300, Matt Kemp is swinging the bat well and Carl Crawford has been on a tear.

While the Dodgers have lost two extra inning affairs against the Padres, San Francisco has closed the gap to 2.5 games in the NL West with a pair of wins at home against Milwaukee, 13-2 and 3-1. On Friday, Buster Posey went 5-for-5 to spark a blowout and last night Jake Peavy flirted with a no-hitter in a 3-1 win.

In the words of Satchel Paige, “Don’t look back, somebody might be gaining on you.”