LOS ANGELES — After nearly two decades, Clayton Kershaw still knows his way around the San Francisco Giants.
Kershaw befuddled the Dodgers’ biggest rival yet again, firing seven scoreless innings in an 11-5 victory Saturday that evened the first series of the season between the longtime foes. Shohei Ohtani showed his appreciation by hitting a pair of home runs.
The outing was Kershaw’s 61st career appearance and 59th start against San Francisco. And while it might not have matched the pure dominance of his first career start against the Giants, when he struck out 13 in a 2009 outing, it was the future Hall of Famer’s chance to show just how much orange and black gets his undivided attention.
Kershaw gave up three hits with one walk and his five strikeouts moved him 12 away from becoming the 20th pitcher in MLB history with 3,000. Only three left-handers are on that list.
There are plenty of teams Kershaw has dominated in his career, but he has not faced any of them more than he has faced the Giants. He now has a career 2.00 ERA against San Francisco in 404 1/3 innings.
And it came with the teams tied for first place in the National League West, in a collision at the top of the standings that occurred when the Giants won the series opener Friday.
Ohtani was the first to show that Saturday’s game was about to take a different form than the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss on Friday. His first home run of the night came on the fourth pitch of the game from Giants right-hander Landen Roupp.
Ohtani’s first home run since June 2 ended a 10-game long-ball drought, his longest in two years while wearing a Dodgers uniform. It was his first at home since a two-homer night May 30 against the New York Yankees.
The offense took flight in the second inning with five runs on four walks and three hits. Andy Pages had an RBI single, Michael Conforto had an RBI double, Mookie Betts had a two-run double and Will Smith had a sacrifice fly for a 6-1 lead.
By the time Hyeseong Kim dunked an RBI single to center in the third inning in front of close friend Jung Hoo Lee in center, the Dodgers were well in control with a 7-0 lead.
They reached double digits in the sixth inning when Ohtani hit his second home run of the game and 26th of the season, and Teoscar Hernandez added a two-run shot, his 13th.
Kershaw departed to a standing ovation from many in the crowd of 51,548 after retiring the Giants in the seventh inning. It was his first seven-inning scoreless outing since June 20, 2023, against the Angels.
Kiké Hernandez pitched the ninth inning for the Dodgers in the runaway game, collecting his first career strikeout when he got Christian Koss. But he gave up a grand slam to Casey Schmitt after loading the bases on three walks. It was Schmitt’s second grand slam in two games.
Left-hander Anthony Banda recorded the last out after Kiké Hernandez gave up five runs (four earned) in two-thirds of an inning.
Related Articles
Emmet Sheehan close to return as Dodgers eye Padres series Yoshinobu Yamamoto struggles as Giants beat Dodgers for tie atop NL West Encouraging news for Dodgers’ injury-plagued pitching staff Fractured toe gave Dodgers’ Mookie Betts a chance to look for answers Alexander: Tuesday’s Dodgers monstrosity helped set up Wednesday’s success Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Shohei Ohtani homers twice, Clayton Kershaw stifles Giants in Dodgers’ win )
Also on site :
- 'LPBW's Tori Roloff Rocks Chic Black Dress for 'Date Night' in New Video
- Russia’s strong ties with both Israel and Iran could help it emerge as a power broker
- NYT ‘Connections’ Hints and Answers Today, Sunday, June 15