Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw back on the beam in win over Rockies

LOS ANGELES >> Clayton Kershaw was halfway between the mound at Dodger Stadium and the home dugout when he tilted his head up, raised his left arm and shook a closed fist.

There was relief.

In the top of the first iing, Kershaw threw 33 pitches, nearly a third of his total workload Saturday night, loading the bases with one out. Then, the simmering drama between the Dodgers and Colorado Rockies faded.

The left-hander dropped an 89 mph slider to strike out Ian Desmond and faed Trevor Story on three pitches.

Kershaw ultimately looked in prime form in the Dodgers’ 4-0 victory over Colorado, as they pushed their wiing streak to a season-high nine games. It is also their longest since 2013.

Over six scoreless iings, Kershaw struck out eight batters, walked one and gave up four hits. And after loading the bases in the top of the first, he went on to retire 13 consecutive Rockies. The run ended with two outs in the top of the fifth when Chris Rusin knocked a two-strike curveball into right field.

It was an encouraging performance for the Dodgers’ ace. Five days earlier in the same ballpark, Kershaw surrendered six runs, including a career-high four home runs, in a 10-6 win against the New York Mets, underscoring a suddenly nagging issue. Less than halfway through this regular season, he had seen 17 of his pitches clear the outfield walls — already the most homers he had given up in any season since he debuted in 2008.

With a win Saturday, the Dodgers added to their lead atop the National League West standings. When the weekend began, the Dodgers led the Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks by 1.5 games. After Saturday night, they were ahead of Arizona by 2.5 games and Colorado by 3.5 games.

The Dodgers were positioned for the series sweep Sunday. The upstart Rockies split two of their previous series this season and took two out of three games in early April.

A three-run third iing bolstered Kershaw’s effort Saturday, begiing with a leadoff home to straightaway center field by Joc Pederson, who tued on a first-pitch fastball.

It continued a recent power surge. After Pederson’s solo blast, the Dodgers had homered in 16 consecutive games, the longest such streak in club history.

A pair of runs followed. Yasmani Grandal singled on a hard-hit line drive to right field with one out, scoring Justin Tuer from first base. Kershaw was walked with the bases loaded. He was the third straight batter Tyler Chatwood, the Rockies’ right-hander, walked.

Chatwood, a Redlands native, struggled Saturday. In three and one-third iings, he allowed four eaed runs and saw 11 batters reach base, eight of them by walks.

Advertisement

It had been at least a decade since the Dodgers had been walked so many times in one game.

Chatwood exited the game in the top of the fourth after Tuer popped out. In the previous at-bat, he had walked Pederson

The Dodgers scored their first run in the bottom of the second after an RBI single by Kike’ Hedandez brought in Logan Forsythe, who along with Yasiel Puig, had reached base by a walk.

Heandez was in the lineup at shortstop, replacing Corey Seager who remains day-to-day with a mild strain of his right hamstring.

sport world...