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Clayton Kershaw Stops the Bleeding as Dodgers Salvage Series With Giants, 6-1

The Dodgers' ace is no stranger to snapping losing streaks this season

Here he comes to save the day.

Emotions ran high as Clayton Kershaw threw seven shutout innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Park.

Kershaw is no stranger to snapping losing streaks this season as the Dodgers' ace has repeatedly stopped the bleeding for the Boys in Blue in 2017.

Wednesday marked Kershaw's sixth start of the season following a Dodgers' loss and the left-hander improved to 5-1 in those starts, putting L.A. back on track time and time again.

"Good win," said Kershaw to reporters after the game. "We needed it today after losing three in a row."

Kershaw (7-2) allowed just three soft-contact hits, with no walks, and five strikeouts, over seven shutout innings. He lowered his ERA to 2.15 and his seven wins tie him with Astros' starter Dallas Keuchel for the MLB lead.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner improved to 20-9 with a 1.62 ERA in his career against the Giants and Wednesday's performance was even more impressive when you include the fact that no San Francisco player reached second base off him in the game.

One of the longest and most heated rivalries in sports finally lived up to expectations when the benches cleared in the third inning.

In the top half of the first, after a two-run double by Yasmani Grandal, San Francisco starter, Johnny Cueto, started jawing at the Dodgers' catcher for apparently stealing signs.

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"It was just the heat of the moment," Grandal told Alanna Rizzo after the game. "We talked about it...it was no big deal."

Two innings later, Grandal was at the plate again and Cueto appeared to throw at his head, prompting another verbal exchange between the two when the inning came to an end, and ultimately leading in both benches clearing onto the field.

As you can see from the video above, only one player wanted no part of the confrontation: Kershaw.

Clayton quickly told his teammates to get back to the dugout as he headed to the mound for the bottom of the third, avoiding the conflict altogether.

"He smelled blood," said Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts about Kershaw wanting to get back on the mound with a three-run lead during the commotion. "Clayton was in control."

Order was restored, no ejections were made, and no other issues between the two teams occurred for the remainder of the game.

Cueto (4-3), allowed five runs on eight hits with one walk and six strikeouts in six innings in the loss.

Yasiel Puig added a two-run single in the top of the sixth inning to extend the L.A. lead to 5-0.

Cody Bellinger went 2-for-4 with doubles, an RBI and a run scored as he currently leads the Majors for most RBI in the month of May with 18.

Sergio Romo was put into a familiar situation at AT&T Park as the former San Francisco closer was asked to finish off the game with a six-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. 

Romo has struggled mightily this season, and promptly served up a solo shot to Eduardo Nunez to end the Dodgers' shutout. Romo retired the next two hitters, but has an 8.10 ERA this season.

Up Next:

The Dodgers return home for a 10-game homestand starting on Thursday against former skipper Don Mattingly and the Miami Marlins. RHP Edisnson Volquez will start opposite Hyun-Jin Ryu at 7:10 PM PST.

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