Kershaw Tosses Fourth Career Shutout Over Giants, Dodgers Leap Frog Into First Place

Boy it must suck to be a Giants fan right now. I laugh with glee.

After Friday night’s 8-1 whooping, the Dodgers delivered up another serving of beat down as Clayton Kershaw shut down the Giants with a complete game two-hit 5-0 shutout. There is nothing more joyful than watching the Dodgers beat up on the Giants, and seeing the joy drain from the Giant’s fans faces. It was priceless. After having to watch the Giants beat the Dodgers seven out of the first ten games this season, these last two games have been a wonderful reprieve. This was the first series win for the Dodgers over the Giants in the last five series played. Tough luck San Francisco you just got Kersh’d!

Dodgers  5 11 1

Giants      0 2 1

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Kershaw came into the game with a miniscule 1.48 career ERA against the Giants, and his ERA at At&t Park was less than a half a run. Nobody dominates the Giants like Kershaw does. Our left-handed ace tossed his fourth career shutout over the Giants. Kershaw is now 12-5 against San Francisco, and is 12-2 overall on the 2014 season. Kershaw whiffed seven and walked just one in another masterpiece, as the Dodgers won the series and leap frog over the Giants into first place.

Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

The offense came through as well with five runs on eleven hits. The Dodgers smacked around opposing starter Ryan Vogelsong for four runs on eight hits over six frames. Vogelsong whiffed four and walked one, and took the loss to drop to 5-8 on the season.

The Dodgers scored one run in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth, and once in the seventh. The Dodgers scored their first run when Pence lost Gonzo’s line drive in the sun. After Gonzo’s line drive sun double, Hanley’s bloop single to left scored him to put the Dodgers up 1-0.

The Dodgers used three consecutive singles from Crawford, Kemp and Uribe to score the second run in the fifth. Then in the sixth, there was an infield single from Puig, a line drive double from Gonzo, and then one out later an errant throw to the plate on a fielder’s choice from Carl Crawford. Uribe’s line drive double plated another run, which put the Dodgers up 4-0. The boys in blue would add one more in the seventh on Gonzalez’s RBI single. Gonzalez had three hits on the night, Hanley and Uribe had two hits each as well.

But the story of the night was Clayton Kershaw. He lowered his season ERA to 1.76, and seems destined to win his third Cy Young award. Let’s get to the highlights and check out how this beautiful game played out…..

Vogelsong sets the Dodgers down in order in the top of the first. Dee Gordon with his obligatory lead-off whiff. Yasiel Puig flies to shallow center as Gregor Blanco runs in to make a sliding catch. Then Gonzalez grounds out.

In the bottom of the first, Hunter Pence grounds to third. Blanco singles through the hole at short, but Kershaw gets Buster Posey to ground into a nice 6-4-3 inning ending double play.

Vogelsong sets the Dodgers down again in order with Carl Crawford whiffing with a bewildered look on his face.

Kershaw returns the favor in the bottom of the second. He gets Sandoval and Morse to ground out. He whiffs Adam Duvall looking, catching the outside corner.

In the top of the third, Juan Uribe fouls out to Pence as he races across the line to make a one-handed catch. A.J. flies out to Pence for the second out. And Kershaw whiffs.

With two outs in the top of the fourth, Pence loses Gonzalez’s line drive in the sun and Gonzo is aboard with a sun double. Can Hanley bring Gonzo home? He sure can. His bloop hit into shallow left falls in front of Morse, allowing Gonzo to score. But Hanley is thrown out trying to leg it into a double. The Dodgers decide not to challenge. But the run counts and the Dodgers take a 1-0 lead!

Kershaw shuts down the Giants in order in the bottom of the fourth, preserving the Dodgers 1-0 lead.  Kersh whiffs Pence sending him back to the salt mines. Blanco flies to center, and Posey flies to deep left for the third out. 1-0 Dodgers after four frames.

The Dodgers pad their lead in the top of the fifth, as they begin to figure out Vogelsong. Crawford has a terrific at-bat fouling off several pitches before slapping a single over Brandon Crawford’s head. Kemp follows with a single to move Crawford up 90 feet. With first and second, Uribe’s line drive single to left scores Crawford to put the Dodgers up 2-0! With Kemp now at second, Adam Duvall makes a nice sliding catch on A.J.’s foul flare down the first base line. After Kershaw’s sacrifice moves the runners to second and third, Gordon’s fly out ends the frame. But the Dodgers get one more and lead 2-0.

Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

Kershaw breezes through the bottom of the fifth. Sandoval whiffs. Morse walks. After Duvall gives us a scare with a deep foul drive down the left field line, Kerhaw strikes him out swinging. Kersh then  whiffs Uggla to end the inning. 1-0 Dodgers after five.

The Dodgers do some more scoring in the top of the sixth. Puig beats out an infield single to short, despite an amazing diving effort from Brandon Crawford. Gonzo’s line drive double sends Pug to third. The Giants have a meeting on the mound to try and halt the Dodger’s momentum. It doesn’t work. First Hanley’s ground out back to the box freezes the runners. Then Crawford’s chopper to second allows Puig to score sliding as Uggla’s errant throw goes wide. Gonzo goes to third on the play. It’s 3-0 Dodgers! They rule it an error and a fielder’s choice.

Kemp grounds to third, and there is another play at the plate. This time Sandoval cuts down Gonzalez as he slides into the tag from Posey. Crawford goes to second. Then Uribe’s bloop double to right scores Crawford. Dodgers lead 4-0! A.J. is intentionally walked to load the bases. The only way the Giants could get out of the inning was by whiffing Kershaw.

In the bottom of the sixth, Kershaw gets B. Crawford to ground out. Arias reaches on a fielding error from Hanley. Pence taps out to the box. Arias advances to second on the play. Blanco flies to left.

Jean Machi takes over for Vogelsong in the top of the seventh. Gordon leads-off with a single to center. Puig’s high chopper back to the box advances Gordon to second. Gonzo’s line drive single to left plates Gordon to put the Dodgers up 5-0. Hanley’s slicing opposite field double sends Gonzo to third. Crawford whiffs on a called third strike. Kemp walks to load the bases. Machi gets out of the inning by punching out Uribe on a called third strike.

Kemp makes a great sliding catch in foul ground on Posey’s foul pop to begin the bottom of the seventh. Sandoval pops out to Gordon. Morse bounces a single off the mound that goes into center field. Uribe makes a nice play on Duvall’s grounder to end the frame. It’s 5-0 Dodgers after seven.

In the bottom of the eighth, Uggla grounds out. Crawford pops out to Gordon. Rookie Andrew Susac grounds to third.

Move to the bottom of the ninth. Kershaw will finish it off himself. Pence fouls out to A.J. for the first out. Blanco whiffs, and Tyler Colvin fouls out to end the game. Dodgers win 5-0!

The Dodgers now improve to 58-47 and move into the first place. This is how the Dodgers were supposed to play all season. This could be the momentum the club needs to steamroll their way into the playoffs.

This was another joyous night. Isn’t it awesome seeing the Giants and their fans with pained and grimaced looks on their faces? I want the Giants to suffer. I want all Giant fans to have a terrible day at work on Monday. The way to do that is with a sweep. But old nemesis and newly acquired Jake Peavy stands in their way. The Dodgers will counter with Hyun-jin ryu.

Join us Sunday evening at 5:10 PM for the big payback!

I love it!!!!!

Go Blue!