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 The Dodgers left-hander defeated the Rockies for the ninth time in a
row, guiding Los Angeles to a 4-1 victory Monday night at Dodger
Stadium.
Kershaw (14-6) limited Colorado to a run on three hits with five
strikeouts and two walks in seven innings. He threw 105 pitches, 71
of them strikes. The consecutive wins over the Rockies by Kershaw
tied the club record set by right-hander Brad Penny from 2006-08.
"It was a battle," said Kershaw, who improved to 9-0 with a 0.98 ERA
in his last 13 starts overall. Kershaw, who has a 2.48 ERA in his
past 10 starts against the Rockies, hasn't lost since June 27, when
the Miami Marlins beat him 3-2.
"Not great all the way around. Fortunate to get through seven
(innings) there. They had a great game plan. Give them a lot of
credit. They had a lot of lineouts. They're hitting balls right at
guys pretty hard all night. Fortunate to get out of there with a
win."
Kershaw leads the majors with 264 strikeouts. He needs six more to
pass Sandy Koufax for the fourth-best single-season mark in club
history. Koufax holds the top three spots on that list, with No. 1
being his 382-strikeout season in 1965.
Reliever Chris Hatcher worked a scoreless ninth inning for his third
save of the season. He filled in for closer Kenley Jansen, who was
unavailable after pitching in the previous three games.
Third baseman Justin Turner delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI
double in the fifth, boosting the Dodgers (83-60) to their third
consecutive win. They beat the Rockies (60-84) for the 10th time in
14 meetings this year.
Los Angeles left fielder Scott Schebler hit a two-run homer off
reliever Miguel Castro with two outs in the eighth for the game's
final runs. It was Schebler's third long ball of the season.
"It was a big win tonight," said Kershaw, whose club is 16-4 in its
past 20 games. "You got to keep on tacking on runs, so obviously
Schebler had a huge homer there and Hatcher in the ninth was awesome
with Kenley down."
Rockies starter Jon Gray (0-1) allowed two runs on six hits with
eight strikeouts and a walk in 4 2/3 innings. Gray, who threw 92
pitches (54 strikes), also hit a batter. However, Colorado manager
Walt Weiss was pleased with the right-hander's effort.
"I saw an explosive fastball, and the secondary stuff was good,"
Weiss said. "He threw some sliders, threw good changeups, did a
great job. That's a real tough lineup to get through. He did a real
nice job of keeping us in position to win the game."
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Los Angeles rookie shortstop Corey Seager played his first major
league game at Dodger Stadium. He went 2-for-3 with a double and a
run.
"Just trying to get good pitches to hit right now and putting good
swings on them, and they're falling in. I can't complain," said
Seager, who recorded his fifth multi-hit game in 11 career games.
The Rockies scored in the first off Kershaw. Second baseman DJ
LeMahieu drew a one-out walk, advanced to third on a double by third
baseman Nolan Arenado and came home on a groundout by right fielder
Carlos Gonzalez.
Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier singled with one out in the
second and reached third on a double by Seager. Ethier scored on a
sacrifice fly by catcher Yasmani Grandal to tie the score at 1.
In the fifth, Turner's RBI double to left gave Los Angeles a 2-1
advantage.
NOTES: Dodgers 1B Adrian Gonzalez had a brief tussle with a fan
battling for a foul ball near the Rockies' dugout in the fifth
inning. Gonzalez made the catch as the fan, who was wearing a Red
Sox cap, tried unsuccessfully to wrestle the ball out of his glove.
The fan was ejected. ... Dodgers 2B Howie Kendrick appears to be
closer to returning. Kendrick, who has missed 32 games with a left
hamstring strain, performed running drills and participated in a
simulated game Monday. He will play in another simulated game
Tuesday. Manager Don Mattingly declined to say when Kendrick would
return. ... Los Angeles 2B Jose Peraza, who left Sunday's game
against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a tight hamstring, is probably
done for the season, Mattingly said. ... Rockies LHP Chris Rusin
(5-8, 5.14 ERA) will face Dodgers LHP Brett Anderson (9-8, 3.36 ERA)
in the second game of the series Tuesday.
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