Clayton Kershaw Continues to Own the Giants as Buddy A.J. Ellis Doubles in the Win

Dodgers 4 7 0

Giants 1 4 1

WP- Kershaw (8-5)

LP- Romo (3-4)

S- Jansen (9)

After the Dodgers fumbled around in game two and came out on the losing side on Saturday night, things were righted in the rubber match as Clayton Kershaw once again dominated the San Franciscan bats. It was a pitching duel through most of the game, as Chad Gaudin pitched quite well keeping pace with Kershaw through 7 innings. The Dodgers scored a run in the second inning thanks to Hanley’s hot bat. A Hanley triple followed by an Ethier single scored a run for the Boys in Blue. The lone run plated by the Giants came on a Quiroz double, a Kersh wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly by Torres in the bottom of the third.

Chad Gaudin pitches the game of his life while keeping pace with Clayton Kershaw on Sunday afternoon but is not involved in the decision.

The rivals remained locked in to a 1-1 tie until the top of the ninth when a clutch bases clearing double by A.J. Ellis gave the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. Buster Posey‘s error helped pave the way for the Dodgers to score off scruffy bearded Sergio Romo who ended up with the much deserved loss. The Dodgers take the series, and they also take sole possession of second place in the standings. Here’s how the satisfying win went down…

Chad Gaudin, who just returned from the disabled list, retires Carl Crawford on a grounder to open things up in the top of the first inning. Then Yasiel Puig strikes out swinging, and that’s Puig’s fifth strikeout in a row going back to last night’s game. Hunter Pence makes a nice catch to rob Adrian Gonzalez of a base hit, and the Dodgers go down in order.

Clayton Kershaw goes to work in the home half of the first, and he quickly strikes out Andres Torres to start. Marco Scutaro replies with a line drive base hit to left field. Pablo Sandoval pops out to Mark Ellis, and Buster Posey grounds into a force to end the inning. Hanley Ramirez bobbles the ball a little bit, but he manages to get Scutaro out at second.

Hanley leads off with a big triple to the right field gap, and his hitting streak is extended to 18 games! Andre Ethier then follows with a bloop single to center to bring home Hanley, and the Dodgers are up 1-0. For some reason Dre is running with Juan Uribe at the plate, and he is thrown out by a mile by Guillermo Quiroz on the busted hit and run play. Uribe grounds out thereafter. A.J. Ellis strikes out on a foul tip to end the frame.

Kershaw sends the pumpkin colored foes down in order in the top of the second.

Gaudin responds with his own 1-2-3 inning including a strikeout of Carl Crawford in the top of the third.

The backup catcher Quiroz leads off the bottom of the third with a big double to the gap in center. Gaudin strikes out. With Torres batting, a wild pitch allows Quiroz to move to third. The tying run comes in as Quiroz tags up on a sacrifice fly by Torres.

Yasiel Puig “breaks his string of strikeouts” (eloquently said by Vin Scully) by singling on the first pitch

Clayton Kershaw’s wild pitch allows a costly run in the third inning, but the Cy Young Award winner dominated the Giants per usual.

in the top of the fourth. With Gonzalez at the plate, Puig steals his fifth base of the season. Gonzo flies out. Hanley hits a towering fly ball to the left field corner. It is ruled foul, but Don Mattingly asks the umpires to look it over on the replay video. The umps come back and uphold the ruling. It looked like it just flew by the foul pole on the foul side. Mattingly goes out to complain about Scutaro moving around before the pitch, and after that Yasiel Puig is thrown out trying to steal third. Hanley then strikes out, and the inning turns into a disaster right before our eyes.

The Giants go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth.

Gaudin is pitching well, and he retires the Dodgers in order again in the top of the fifth.

Kershaw keeps the good pitching going as he sends the Jints down in order in the bottom of the fifth. Uribe makes a stupendous play at third to stop a ball hit by Cole Gillespie from going down the line for an extra base hit. Kershaw whiffs Quiroz for the third out.

Gaudin easily sends the Dodgers down in order in the top of the sixth, and we have ourselves a good old fashioned pitching duel.

Kershaw walks Gaudin, the lead-off hitter, but the err is soon erased after Torres grounds into a double play. Scutaro flies out to Ethier, and the game remains tied 1-1.

Puig strikes out for the second time against Gaudin to begin the seventh. He has now struck out seven time in his last nine at-bats. Gonzalez grounds out. Hanley Ramirez doubles to the left field corner with two outs. Gaudin intentionally walks Ethier to bring up Uribe. Uribe strikes out, and the runners are stranded.

Kershaw plunks Posey with a pitch in the bottom of the seventh, and Joaquin Arias doubles off the left field wall. The Giants have runners at second and third with two outs. Gillespie pops out to Ethier, and the Giants strand two runners akin to the Dodgers in the top of the inning.

Sandy Rosario will come into pitch in relief for Chad Gaudin. Gaudin pitched 7 innings and allowed 1 run on 4 hits with a career-high 9 strikeouts and a walk on 92 pitches. Both Ellises fly out to Hunter Pence, and Kershaw draws a two-out walk. Bruce Bochy will go to the pen and bring in the left Javy Lopez to pitch to Carl Crawford. CC flies out to shallow center to end the inning.

Puig makes a spectacular diving catch in the bottom of the eighth to prevent a bloop hit by Quiroz. Kershaw quickly retires Tony Abreu and Torres on six pitches, and we head to the ninth.

Sergio Romo is in to pitch the ninth, and Puig leads off with a solid single against the annoying bearded reliever. This time bumbling errors are on the Dodgers side as Buster Posey can’t hang on to the ball on a single hit by Gonzo. Posey’s throwing error allows the ball to roll into left field, and Puig advances to third! Hanley hits a ball right back to Romo, but he is only able to get the out at first as Gonzalez is able to take second. They intentionally walk Ethier for the second time to once again bring up Uribe, this time with the bases loaded and one out. It’s not Uribe’s day today as he goes down swinging and strikes out for the third time. A.J. proceeds to take a hanging Romo slider for a ride for a bases clearing double! The Dodgers take a 4-1 lead! They intentionally walk Mark Ellis, and they’ll take Romo out as Jerry Hairston Jr. readies to pinch-hit for Kershaw. Jake Dunning will come in to pitch for the Giants. JHair grounds out to the blubbery Panda, and the Dodgers will now hand the ball to Kenley Jansen for the bottom of the ninth inning.

Clayton Kershaw pitched 8 marvelous innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk on exactly 100 pitches.

Jansen induces a groundout from Scutaro, and Panda lines out to Uribe. Posey manages a single when the ball bounces out of Dre’s glove. Jansen rears back and whiffs Pence, and the Dodgers win the series!

Kershaw is now 3-0 against the Giants this season as he picks up his eighth victory of the year. The Dodgers improve to 42-45, but they remain 4 1/2 back (but in second place on their own) since the D-backs defeated Colorado 6-1. The Dodgers will now head to Arizona to finish up the road trip before heading home to play Colorado before the All-Star break.