Kershaw Shines as Dodgers Repeat as NL West Champs

They pulled it off despite once trailing the Giants by nine games in June

On the strength of another strong performance from Clayton Kershaw, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-1, Wednesday night to win their second straight National League West Division title.

In his last outing of the year, the lefty showed the sold out crowd of 53,387, and San Francisco, that he's not just a pitcher, he's a player.

He did it with his arm. Kershaw went eight innings, allowing one run on eight hits, and striking out 11. He beat the Giants for the third time this season and improved his record to a Major League best 21-3. Kershaw's already miniscule earned run average dropped to 1.77, which will also give him an unprecedented fourth straight ERA title.

He did it with his bat. With the club down 1-0 in the fifth with a runner on third and two outs, Kershaw laced a grounder up the middle that rolled to the wall in right-center field. Instead of settling for an easy double, the Texas native chugged it into third with a standup triple to tie the game, 1-1.

He also did it with his glove. He saved a run in the third with a backhanded snag of a grounder that would've bounced into center field for a hit by Tim Hudson with runners on second and third. In the sixth, he hopped off the mound to make a nice play on the grounder by Chris Dominguez to end the inning, stranding runners on second and third.

In his last audition for the NL Most Valuable Player Award Wednesday, Kershaw made his case, dropped the mic and walked off stage.

"Whatever we need he gives it to us. It's the big hit, or if it's making a play. It's getting us deep into a game when our bullpen needs a day off. He pretty much gives us whatever we need," a soaked Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said after the game, as champagne and beer shot out from bottles all around the winning team's clubhouse.

Justin Turner, who's been an all-world utility player for the club this season, said the outcome couldn't be any sweeter.

"They're our rivals. They got a great club over there. Everyone talked about the even years as the Giants years. To win the division against them, here at home in front of our awesome fans is unbelievable," Turner said afterward.

The Giants spoiled Kershaw's chance at a shutout. In the third, Joaquin Arias and Gregor Blanco hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Then things got a little funky. After two failed sacrifice bunt attempts by Tim Hudson, Clayton Kershaw balked to advance Arias and Blanco to second and third. Hudson then grounded out. Hunter Pence followed with a chopper to third that Juan Uribe charged hard to get. With no play at first, Uribe tried to get Arias at home, but the speedster beat the throw to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

Hudson was going strong into the sixth until Yasiel Puig took a fastball and smacked it over the right field wall for his 16th home run of the season to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Hudson got Adrian Gonzalez to fly out, but his night was done after Matt Kemp followed with a double.

Hudson took the loss and drops to 9-13 on the year. The final pitching line for the 39-year-old may not be pretty - 5 1/3 innings, three runs, five hits, four strikeouts, one hit batter -- but it doesn't tell the full story. For much of the first four five innings he had Dodger hitters flailing at sliders that slithered off the plate outside, and he fooled them with darting fastballs that nibbled the corners.

He also reached a milestone by joining Mark Buehrle as the only active pitchers to reach the 3,000 innings pitched plateau. He now sits at 3,002 1/3 innings.

But, once he was pulled, the flood gates opened up in the sixth.

An intentional walk to Hanley Ramirez, a double by Carl Crawford and a single by Uribe put the Dodgers up 5-1 before A.J. Ellis ended the inning by grounding into a double play.

The Dodgers added four more runs in the eighth to pile on, highlighted by a two-run single by Uribe. Crawford and Uribe powered the Dodgers offense. They combined to go 4-for-6 with three runs scored and five RBIs. Crawford also stole a base and was hit by pitches twice.

The Giants had their chances. With two outs in the sixth, Pablo Sandoval and Andrew Susac both singled and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch by Kershaw. But Dominguez grounded out to end the threat.

Then, with one out in the seventh, Gregor Blanco and Matt Duffy both singled. But that rally was killed when Blanco tried to advance to third on Duffy's hit to center. Puig shut it down when he did a 360-degree spin and fired a one-hop bullet to third to nail Blanco. Hunter Pence followed by striking out to end the inning.

Blanco and Sandoval both collected two hits for the Giants, who, despite the loss, are still in the driver's seat to make the playoffs as the second Wild Card team in the National League.

The division title is the Dodgers' 14th since the NL West divisoin was formed in 1969. 

Contact Us