Kershaw, Ramirez lead Dodgers past Cardinals 4-1

[August 08, 2008]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Clayton Kershaw worked seven dominant innings and Manny Ramirez homered for the fourth time in six games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who averted a three-game sweep by beating the St. Louis Cardinals and 13-game winner Kyle Lohse 4-1 on Thursday.

Ryan Ludwick's consecutive home run streak ended at five games, which tied a Cardinals record, after he went 1-for-3 with a single, two strikeouts and a walk. Ludwick has 29 homers and is batting .475 (19-for-40) during a 10-game hitting streak.

The 20-year-old Kershaw, the seventh overall pick of the 2006 draft, allowed only three singles while matching his season best with seven strikeouts and working around four walks. The seven-inning stint was the deepest he's gone by a full inning in 12 career starts.

In his last three outings the rookie has been nearly untouchable, giving up one run and 11 hits in 19 innings. Cesar Izturis, who was 6-for-11 in the series, ended the left-hander's 17-inning scoreless streak with an RBI single in the fifth.

Hong Chih Kuo tossed a perfect eighth and Jonathan Broxton, shaky in his first appearance in six days, worked around a hit and a walk in the ninth for his sixth save in six chances since Takashi Saito went on the 15-day disabled list last month. The Cardinals scored 15 runs and batted .381 during the first two games of the series.

Lohse (13-4) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings, including his fifth homer in three starts, missing a chance to match his career high for victories set in 2003. He finished strong, retiring his last 10 batters after Juan Pierre's RBI triple in the fourth put the Dodgers ahead 4-0.

Ramirez, booed throughout the series before each at-bat by fans who apparently remember his 2004 World Series MVP turn in Boston's sweep of the Cardinals, is 13-for-23 with nine RBIs since joining the Dodgers. His 514th career homer was a two-run shot in the third off a first-pitch fastball from Lohse, putting the Dodgers ahead 3-0.

Cardinals reliever Jason Isringhausen, removed from the closer's role for a second time on Tuesday, worked a scoreless eighth and ninth and was impressive. The only hit he allowed was erased on Ramirez's double-play ball and he struck out the side against the Dodgers' 6-7-8 hitters in the ninth.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

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