Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw throws to the San Francisco Giants in the first inning of their MLB baseball game at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Saturday. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
Clayton Kershaw threw a complete game two-hitter as the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the San Francisco Giants and moved back into first place in the national league west on Saturday.
Kershaw (12-2) allowed a single to the second batter he faced but then didn’t allow another hit until after his teammates had staked him to a 5-0 lead in the seventh inning. The left-hander threw 113 pitches, struck out seven and walked one in his second complete game shutout of the season.
His nine-game winning streak is the first for a Dodgers starter since right-hander Kevin Brown accomplished the feat in 2003. Kershaw has not lost since May 28 against the Cincinnati Reds.
“You end up counting on him to go at least six,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “If you don’t get to him early, he winds up with a low pitch count. That’s when you start to get spoiled.”
Adrian Gonzalez had three hits and an RBI and Juan Uribe had two hits and two RBIs to help the Dodgers move into first place in the NL West, a half-game ahead of the Giants, who were shut out for the 11th time.
“You don’t take for granted being in first place,” Kershaw said. “We know those guys will be right there with us to the end. We know we have to win a few more games to stay in first.”
Kershaw (12-2) walked one and struck out seven in his ninth career shutout and second this season. It was also his fourth complete game of the year and 15th of his career. The left-hander improved to 12-6 with a 1.40 ERA in 23 career games against the Giants, including 7-2 with a 0.69 ERA at AT&T Park.
“It’s fun to win,” Kerhsaw said. “I’m happy now but if I lose the next time out I won’t be happy. We kept scoring runs and it seems like if I can keep throwing zeroes the first three innings we have a good chance. It’s been holding true.”
Kershaw has made 15 consecutive quality starts against the Giants, the most by a pitcher since Bob Gibson had 16 straight between 1968-72.
Ryan Vogelsong (5-8) retired the first 11 batters before Hunter Pence lost Gonzalez’s double in the sun with two outs in the fourth. Hanley Ramirez followed with an RBI single.
“Vogey has had some tough luck, whether it’s the run support or things going awry,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “The sun played a part in it tonight and it cost us a run.”
The Giants have been shut out in four of Vogelsong’s last five starts and the right-hander has received an average of two runs per game of support at home, the second-lowest in the NL. Vogelsong lost his fifth straight decision, matching his longest such streak since 2011.
“I stopped making good pitches is what happened,” Vogelsong said.
“I can’t put a finger on it other than I missed some spots and they got some hits.”
Joaquin Arias was the lone Giants hitter to reach as far as second base against Kershaw and he reached on a fielding error. Michael Morse singled with two outs in the seventh.
“He was unbelievable,” Uribe said. “It seems like he can that do that every time.”
Uribe, who has 17 RBIs against his former team since leaving after the 2010 season, drove in runs in the fifth and sixth. Yasiel Puig scored on Dan Uggla’s throwing error in the sixth. Gonzalez singled home a run in the seventh.
Rays on cloud nine after shutout of Red Sox
The final score read like a pitchers’ duel, but the Rays’ ninth straight victory, a 3-0 win over the Red Sox on Saturday night, didn’t exactly fit that description.Tampa Bay starter Jeremy Hellickson didn’t last five innings at Tropicana Field, despite holding Boston scoreless. He was pulled with two outs in the fifth -- and David Ortiz looming -- after throwing 96 pitches, walking two and allowing five hits.
“It just came back to Papi,” manager Joe Maddon said. “Ortiz has got this tremendous flair for the dramatic, and I didn’t want to see that tonight.”
Hellickson’s counterpart, John Lackey, made it through seven, but not before allowing four walks and eight hits and giving up all three runs. Both pitchers, in fact, characterized their outing as “pretty good,” and really, that’s what they were -- pretty good, but not good enough to dominate, like David Price and Jon Lester did for long stretches in Friday’s series opener.“I wish I could have went longer than one more out than I did last time, but when David throws eight innings every single game, that bullpen’s ready to go,” Hellickson said. “I’ve got to get ahead of guys a lot better. I fell behind too much, threw way too many pitches those first two innings. I made a big pitch when I needed to, that was a positive.”
Hellickson and Lackey weren’t good enough, either, to keep a 3-0 game from lasting almost three and a half hours. That was due to the sheer number of runners who got aboard -- and stayed there.
Through four innings, the Rays had stranded six runners. Through six, the Red Sox stranded eight. The Rays grounded into two inning-ending double plays. So did the Red Sox -- although one was an unusual 4-3-2 twin killing, turned when first baseman James Loney threw out Brock Holt trying to score from second on a hard Ortiz groundout into the shift in right field.