Kershaw throws CG, Dodgers rally to win (AP)
Monday, 27 June 2011 01:00
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Clayton Kershaw(notes) outlasted Jered Weaver(notes) in a matchup of Los Angeles aces and the Dodgers rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Angels 3-2 on Sunday, preventing a Freeway Series sweep.
Pinch-hitter Aaron Miles(notes), batting for Kershaw, drove in the tying run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly and Tony Gwynn Jr.(notes) won it with a two-out single. The Dodgers ended a three-game skid, though they remain nine games below .500.
Kershaw (8-3) gave up six hits in his second consecutive complete game, tying a season high with 11 strikeouts for the second straight outing. He also walked none in his 100th career start.
The 23-year-old lefty struck out the side in the fifth and his 128 strikeouts surpassed Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay(notes), who has 123, for the NL lead.
Vernon Wells(notes) homered in the top of the ninth to give the Angels a 2-1 lead.
Weaver allowed one run and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out four and walked one.
The Angels had won six straight at Dodger Stadium, including wins in the first two games of the series, when they outscored the Dodgers 14-4.
Jordan Walden(notes) (1-2) walked his first two batters in the ninth before Jamey Carroll(notes) advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Miles hit a fly to center field, scoring pinch-runner Dee Gordon(notes), and Gwynn lined a 2-2 pitch into right to end the game.
The blown save was Walden’s fifth in 22 attempts.
Gwynn also had an RBI triple in the seventh.
Kershaw turned a double play in the sixth when Weaver’s bunt was popped up to him. Kershaw caught it backhanded to the right of the mound and fired to Carroll, who caught Jeff Mathis(notes) off second.
Wells, who struck out in his first three at-bats, sent a 3-2 pitch from Kershaw into the lower left-field seats with two outs in the ninth, putting the Angels back in front 2-1.
Kershaw got his 11th hit of the season, a two-out single in the seventh. Gwynn followed with a triple to right off the glove of Wells on the warning track, scoring Kershaw to tie the game at 1.
Wells, a three-time Gold Glove winner, backhanded the ball near the right-field wall, but it bounced out and fell to the ground.
The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the seventh. Erick Aybar(notes) led off with a double to left field, barely getting his hand on the bag ahead of second baseman Juan Uribe’s(notes) tag, with Aybar pumping his left arm as the umpire signaled safe.
Howie Kendrick(notes) followed with a single to center field. Matt Kemp(notes) charged the ball and fired to the plate as Aybar dove under the tag of catcher Dioner Navarro(notes).
NOTES: Angels RF Torii Hunter(notes) missed his third consecutive game with sore ribs, although the team hopes to have him back in the lineup at some point during their three-game series against the Nationals. … Dodgers OF Marcus Thames(notes), who has a strained left calf, won’t be going on the DL and could serve as DH during the team’s upcoming six games against AL opponents. … Injured Dodgers RHP Jonathan Broxton(notes) felt stiffness in his right elbow playing catch on Saturday, delaying plans to activate him by Friday, when the Dodgers play the Angels again in Anaheim.
