Clayton Kershaw pitched two-hit ball over five innings, Mookie Betts hit a two-run double that set a record of 105 RBIs for a leadoff hitter, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 7-0 on Saturday night.
Kershaw (13-4) struck out five and walked two. The three-time Cy Young Award winner has not gone beyond five innings in any of last seven starts. He returned Aug. 10 after missing six weeks with a left shoulder injury that he and the team have said little about.
Kershaw's 13th victory on the season was also the 210th of his career, moving him alone into second place for the most wins in Dodgers franchise history. Don Sutton is number one on the list with 233.
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Kershaw lowered his career ERA against the rival Giants to 1.99 ERA (86 ER/388.0 IP), the lowest against any club with a minimum of 30 starts.
The NL West champion Dodgers earned their 95th win of the season and 15th shutout, tied for second in the major leagues behind Seattle's 16.
The victory, in addition to the Milwaukee Brewers loss to the Miami Marlins earlier in the day, guaranteed the Dodgers would have a first-round bye in the MLB Playoffs. Los Angeles clinched a trip to the NLDS and at least the No.2 overall seed in the National League. They currently trail the Atlanta Braves for the No. 1 overall seed by four games.
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Betts’ RBIs are the most by a leadoff hitter, two more than Charlie Blackmon's 103 for Colorado in 2017. Betts' double in the eighth extended the lead to 7-0.
J.D. Martinez hit his 31st home run and added a two-run double. The Dodgers could have three players with 100 RBIs for the first time since moving to Los Angeles in 1958. Max Muncy has 103, and Martinez (98) and Freddie Freeman (96) are approaching triple digits with seven games remaining.
In his last seven games, Martinez has been on another planet, he's batting .400 (10-for-25) with five homers and 12 RBI over that span.
Freeman got his major league-leading 57th double of the season in the fifth, driving in Austin Barnes. Muncy's RBI single extended the lead to 5-0.
Freeman's double extended the Dodgers franchise record in that category, and moved him into 11th all-time for most two-baggers in a single season. He's just three doubles shy of becoming the first player to have at lease 60 doubles in a single-season since Charlie Gehringer and Joe Medwick did it in 1936.
Freeman singled in the seventh for his career-high 203rd hit, then stole his 22nd base in 23 attempts.
The Giants had runners at the corners in the fifth after Marco Luciano's leadoff double and a walk to Luis Mato with two outs. David Peralta made a diving, inning-ending catch on Austin Slater's fly ball to left that potentially saved two runs. Kershaw looked up at his wife, Ellen, and children watching from a suite and smiled and waved as he reached the dugout.
Giants opener John Brebbia (3-2) took the loss, pitching 1 1/3 innings.
The Giants have lost seven of nine and been outscored 57-32 with one game remaining on their trip.
Martinez fouled a ball off a leg just before his RBI double in the third that made it 3-0.
The Dodgers have won eight of their last 11 games overall, and at 52-28, have the best record at home in the National League.
Tonight was the Dodgers 14th shutout of the season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants: RHP Jakob Junis left after the fourth inning because of neck tightness. ... LHP Scott Alexander is on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain.
UP NEXT
RHP Lance Lynn (12-11, 5.92 ERA) starts Sunday for the Dodgers.
