Put Clayton Kershaw in AT&T Park, and watch the wins and zeroes pile up.
Kershaw improved to 5-2 with a 0.66 ERA in eight career starts in San Francisco with another dominating performance on Sunday. His complete game, five-hit shutout led the charge as the Dodgers beat the Giants again, 4-0. That's two straight days with a shutout to go along with Friday night's extra-inning win, and the NL West is now deadlocked at the top.
Last season, it was all about Kershaw getting the better of Tim Lincecum, who was the reigning Cy Young winner at the time. Flip the script to this year, and it's been Ryan Vogelsong just outpitching Kershaw the first part of the year. Those two met up again in this one.
It took until the fourth for the Dodgers to strike first. I never thought I'd say this, but Juan Rivera hit second in the lineup. It worked in this inning, as he singled leading off. Matt Kemp followed with one up the middle for two on. Andre Ethier flew out to deep center as Rivera tagged to third.
Hanley Ramirez grounded one to third, forcing Kemp at second, but Ramirez hustled to beat the throw at first for the RBI and 1-0 lead. James Loney then popped up to the infield, which should have easily been the final out, but newcomer Marco Scutaro dropped it to keep the inning going. Luis Cruz came through again, stroking an RBI double to go up 2-0.
With Kershaw cruising, the Dodgers tacked on a couple more in the eighth. Loney doubled with one out and went to third on a wild pitch. That guy did it again, as Cruz's RBI single made it 3-0. With two outs, Mark Ellis legged out an infield single to score Cruz, and the Dodgers were up 4-0.
About the only question now was whether or not Kershaw could seal the deal. After setting the Giants down in order in the eighth, Don Mattingly gave him a chance to finish what he started. Ryan Theriot flew out and Melky Cabrera struck out before Buster Posey singled. Angel Pagan grounded out to Ramirez at third to end it.
Kershaw got up to 116 pitches, so it would have been interesting to see if Mattingly would've let him stay in had Pagan singled at the end. Thankfully that wasn't a problem, as in addition to a mere five hits surrendered, he also only walked one and struck out seven. He improved his numbers to 8-6 on the year with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.
Most importantly for Kershaw, he shook any bad feelings he may have had from his start in St. Louis on Tuesday. We saw the worst of him (eights run in over five innings) and now the best of him with a complete game shutout. He was still an All-Star this year, but he hasn't really been talked about as being one of the best pitchers in the NL. Starts like his remind everyone just how awesome he is. His 143 K's are behind only Stephen Strasburg and R.A. Dickey for tops in the NL.
Mark Ellis got his second straight start in the leadoff spot, and he responded again with two hits and an RBI. That's his second straight two-hit game, so perhaps he's a temporary solution for the top of the order. I wouldn't say he's your prototypical leadoff hitter, but right now, he's probably the best option. Dee Gordon is still on the DL, and even when he's back, his playing time will be cut into thanks to the Ramirez acquisition and Cruz's impressive bat.
Every position player got at least one hit. Mark Ellis, Kemp, Ethier, Loney, and Cruz all had two. Want to know who probably had the best game at the plate? A.J. Ellis, who finished with an 0-for-0 line with four walks. That's the kind of stuff he was doing at the beginning of the season before falling off a little. That's why he can be such a good #8 hitter.
Well, it wasn't all pretty at the plate. Kershaw was 0-for-4 and struck twice with the bases loaded! Glad he didn't carry that over to the mound. Maybe it just made him pitch angrier, which obviously worked.
The roadtrip is now over with an excellent 7-3 record. And to think, they actually had a chance to win all 10 games if the didn't blow three straight leads against the Cardinals. Monday starts a nine-game homestand, starting with three against the Diamondbacks. Aaron Harang will take on Trevor Cahill in the first game.
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