Clayton Kershaw felt strong – if not quite effective – in his return from the disabled list.
That was good enough for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They had muscle to spare against the New York Mets.
Kershaw and Jacob deGrom stumbled in an unexpected ace showdown Mikkel Boedker Jersey , Matt Kemp hit a pinch grand slam and the Dodgers won 8-3 on Saturday night.
The Dodgers have won 11 straight against the Mets dating to May 2016, matching their best run in the rivalry. Los Angeles beat New York 11 straight times in 1963-64.
Kershaw gave up two runs over three innings in a surprise return from a lower back strain. He threw 55 pitches, starting out strong before laboring through his final inning.
”Good to be back,” Kershaw said. ”Now I can focus on getting better.”
Left-handed rookie Caleb Ferguson (1-1) replaced him and escaped a couple tight situations over four scoreless innings for his first major league win.
DeGrom (5-3) allowed three earned runs in six innings, including Max Muncy’s 14th home run in the first. He entered the game with a major league-leading 1.51 ERA and hadn’t allowed three earned runs in a game since April 16 against Washington.
New York has lost five straight overall and 12 of 13 at home. The Mets have scored four or fewer runs in 15 straight home games dating to May 20. Some fans at Citi Field were wearing paper bags over their heads by the end of the game.
”It was tough tonight,” said Brandon Nimmo, who had three hits for New York.
Kemp cleared the bases during a five-run eighth inning with his eighth career slam and 13th home run this season. Chris Taylor had a key two-run pinch double, and Los Angeles won for the 24th time in 33 games.
KERSHAW BUILDING UP
Kershaw was scheduled to make a rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City at Omaha, but Los Angeles decided Friday to have him pitch in New York because of precarious weather in Nebraska. The lefty ace had been sidelined since June 1.
Kershaw was electric in the first inning, freezing leadoff man Nimmo on a curveball for a three-pitch strikeout and catching Todd Frazier looking for a five-pitch K.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner wasn’t as sharp after that. Michael Conforto and Jose Bautista lined consecutive doubles in the second inning to tie it at 1, and Kershaw threw 25 pitches in the third inning, including an RBI single by Wilmer Flores to put New York ahead 2-1.
Kershaw struck out four, walked one and allowed five hits before Taylor hit for him in the fourth. Kershaw was expected to be limited to roughly 60 pitches, and he threw an extra simulated inning inside after being replaced.
”The most important thing, he came out of it feeling good, feeling strong,” manager Dave Roberts said.
FERGUSON’S ”GOOD TREND”
Ferguson struck out six, walked one and allowed three hits. The 21-year-old worked out of trouble in the fifth and seventh innings. The latter jam emerged when Cody Bellinger badly misplayed Nimmo’s low liner to center, leading to a one-out triple. Ferguson then struck out Frazier and got Asdrubal Cabrera to ground out.
Ferguson dropped his ERA from 7.59 to 5.52 in his first career relief appearance – he’d previously made three starts. Roberts said Ferguson has shown a ”good trend” of looking more comfortable with each outing.
”He’s handling himself considerably better each time out there,” Roberts said.
JOEY BATS
Bautista hit a solo homer off Yimi Garcia in the eighth inning, his fourth this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (4-1, 2.63) is still dealing with soreness from a right rib microfracture. Buehler nixed a scheduled bullpen session Saturday, and Roberts said he may throw it Sunday if there’s improvement. … LHP Adam Liberatore was optioned to Triple-A to make space for Kershaw.
UP NEXT
LHP Rich Hill (1-2, 4.99) starts the series finale for the Dodgers. Jason Vargas was supposed to start for New York, but the Mets placed him on the DL with a strained calf late Saturday night. The team expected to name a replacement starter early Sunday.
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Follow Jake Seiner at Trea Turner hit two homers, including his first career grand slam, and drove in eight runs to help the Washington Nationals rally from a nine-run deficit and defeat the Miami Marlins 14-12 in a wild slugfest Thursday night to end a five-game losing streak.
The Nationals, who dropped 17 of their previous 22 Tim Heed Jersey , have won 12 consecutive games against Miami dating to last season – their longest winning streak against any team since the franchise moved to Washington in 2005.
The victory came a day after the Nationals called a players-only meeting Wednesday after Washington was swept by Boston and slipped under .500 for the first time since May 2. Turner’s eight RBIs tied for the most ever by a leadoff hitter, according to STATS LLC.
Shawn Kelley (1-0) pitched a scoreless sixth for the win. Sean Doolittle earned his 22nd save in 23 opportunities.
Adam Conley (2-1) allowed five runs in 2/3 of an inning and took the loss.
RANGERS 7, TIGERS 5
DETROIT – Joey Gallo and Ronald Guzman homered as Texas beat Detroit.
Yovani Gallardo (3-0) got the win, giving up four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two while winning his third straight start.
Keone Kela allowed a run in the ninth before finishing off his 21st save as Texas snapped a three-game losing streak.
Matthew Boyd allowed a season-high seven runs and seven hits in four innings. He is 0-3 with a 10.59 ERA in his last four starts.
Detroit lost is third straight and dropped to 2-14 since June 17.
TWINS 5, ORIOLES 2
MINNEAPOLIS – Aaron Slegers got his first major league win by finishing six smooth innings in his first start of the season for Minnesota, and the Twins stopped their six-game losing streak by hanging on to beat Baltimore.
Logan Morrison homered and Jake Cave reached base all four times he batted for the Twins, who turned to Fernando Rodney for the ninth for his 18th save following two consecutive blown chances.
Jonathan Schoop hit two home runs, but the Orioles squandered another quality start by Andrew Cashner (2-9) and lost for the 10th time in 11 games. They have the worst record in the major leagues at 24-62, just the team the Twins needed to face to start a season-long 11-game homestand after a 1-8 road trip.
BREWERS 7, BRAVES 2
MILWAUKEE – Jhoulys Chacin threw seven solid innings and Hernan Perez homered among his three hits, leading Milwaukee to a 7-2 victory over Atlanta in a matchup of first-place teams.
The NL Central Division-leading Brewers won their fourth game in a row to go 17 games over .500 (52-35) for the first time since July 1, 2014, when they were 51-34.
Chacin (7-3) gave up three hits and two earned runs while matching a season high with seven strikeouts in what tied for his longest outing this year. The right-hander was 0-2 in his previous three starts while allowing 10 runs in 15 2/3 innings.
Dan Jennings pitched two perfect innings for his first save this season, and second of his career.
NL East-leading Atlanta dropped its third consecutive game after winning four straight. Braves left-hander Max Fried (1-3) lasted only three innings in his third start of the season, giving up four earned runs and four hits with three walks.
ASTROS 4, WHITE SOX 3
HOUSTON –Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and Yuli Gurriel’s RBI single with one out in Houston’s two-run ninth lifted the Astros to a win over Chicago.
The Astros trailed by 1 when Joakim Soria (0-3) walked pinch-hitter Tony Kemp with no outs in the ninth before advancing to third on a single by pinch-hitter Marwin Gonzalez. George Springer snapped an 0-for-8 slump and tied it at 3-3 with his RBI single to shallow center field.
Alex Bregman walked to load the bases and Altuve struck out before Gurriel sent a ball over second baseman Yoan Moncada’s head into right field to give Houston the victory.
Justin Verlander bounced back from his last start where he allowed nine hits and five runs – both season highs – in a loss to Tampa Bay with a solid outing. He yielded four hits and two runs and struck out 10 in seven innings.
Joe Smith (3-1) allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth for the win in his first appearance since June 6.
CARDINALS 11, GIANTS 2
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Luke Weaver pitched two-hit ball over eight innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Giants.
Jedd Gyorko had three hits, including a homer, and drove in five runs to spoil the return of Johnny Cueto after two months on the disabled list. Matt Carpenter and Harrison Bader also went deep, while Yadier Molina singled three times.
The Cardinals had a season-high 18 hits – their most since getting 19 against the New York Mets on Aug. 24, 2016.
Alen Hanson homered for San Francisco, which has scored five runs while losing four straight.
Weaver (5-7) faced two over the minimum and had seven strikeouts. He carried a perfect game into the sixth before giving up a single and Hanson’s two-run homer. Weaver then bounced back to retire the final seven batters he faced.
Cueto (3-1) was rocked in his long-awaited return from the 60-day disabled list. He gave up four runs in the first inning – one more than he had in 32 innings before going out with right elbow inflammation.
PADRES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 3
PHOENIX (AP) – Eric Lauer limited Arizona to a run over five innings, Austin Hedges homered for the first time since April 10 and the San Diego Padres opened a four-game series in the desert with a victory over the slumping Diamondbacks.
Lauer (4-5) gave up seven hits, walked two and hit a batter, but only one of those baserunners managed to sco
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