Clayton Kershaw got his second big-league win as the Dodgers beat the Cards 4-1 in the final game of the series.
The Dodgers were dealing with a juggled lineup, but scored one in the first and managed to get four runs on eight hits. Russell Martin was given the day off, and backup Danny Ardoin went 1 for 4 with a run in his place. Jeff Kent was also 3 for 4 with two runs, batting just ahead of Manny, who drilled a two-run homerun in the third to put the Dodgers up 3-0. Loney put the Dodgers on board in the first with an RBI-single and Juan Pierre capped off the scoring in the fourth with an RBI-triple.
Kershaw threw a phenominal game, holding the Cards to three hits through seven while giving up just one run while striking out seven. He gave up a two-out RBI-single in the fifth to snap a 16-inning scoreless bid, but that being his only mistake as he earns his second win and brings the Dodgers back to .500. Hong-Chih Kuo pitch a hitless inning and Broxton recovered to strike out the last two batters for his sixth save after putting two men on.
Brad Penny returns to the rotation for a start on Friday at San Francisco. He is making his first start since June 14, and is in search of his first win since May 2. Kershaw went deep enough to keep the bullpen fresh for Friday’s game, considering Penny won’t throw more than 85-90 pitches. The Giants have Barry Zito taking the mound, who is 6-13 but coming off an eight-inning shutout performance of the Padres this past weekend.
