Clayton Kershaw continues to roll, as Dodgers drop Padres
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Ah, if only every team the Dodgers played could be the Padres. If only every starter they sent out pitched like Clayton Kershaw.
The Dodgers downed the Padres, 6-2, on Monday in San Diego, pushed them around pretty much like they have all season.
The Dodgers are now 7-3 against the Padres this season, and have beaten them four consecutive times.
Against the rest of baseball, the Dodgers have a winning record against only three other teams -- and that’s holding slim 2-1 edges against Pittsburgh and Washington.
The Padres, however, are easy pickings. It helps, of course, when you’re sending out one of the hottest pitchers in baseball.
Kershaw (13-4) pitched a complete game, and if he wasn’t at his dominant best, he was certainly in complete control against a Padres squad that is the worst-hitting team in baseball (.233 average). He gave up two runs on five hits, with two walks and four strikeouts in pitching his fourth complete game of the year.
In his last five starts, Kershaw is 5-0 with a 0.96 earned-run average. Yeah, he’s on something of a roll.
Kershaw actually fell behind early Monday, giving up a run in the first after he walked Cameron Maybin, who promptly stole second base and scored on a Jesus Guzman single. That would be Jesus Guzman, Padres cleanup hitter, who came in with four homers and 21 runs batte in, which would also be his career highs.
San Diego starter Cory Luebke (3-6) couldn’t get out of his own way all night. He gave up a one-out single to Juan Rivera and sent him to second base with a wild pitch. A Rod Barajas single sent him to third base, where he scored from on a sacrifice fly by James Loney.
The Dodgers took the lead for good after Matt Kemp led off the fourth with a double. Another Barajas single scored Kemp.
The Dodgers added two more in the fifth after Jamey Carroll led off with a double. Kershaw tried to bunt Carroll to second, but the ball was going foul when Luebke inexplicably picked it up and threw late to first.
Dee Gordon then bounced back to Luebke, who decided to throw home to get Carroll. Only he threw wide and Carroll scored to make it a 4-2 lead for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers scored two more runs in the eighth inning. Kemp tripled in a run and then scored on a Rivera sacrifice fly. The Dodgers were cruising, just like most nights against the Padres.
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-- Steve Dilbeck