Clayton Kershaw’s string of innings without an earned run or home run allowed was snapped Sunday, but he was otherwise dominant and the Los Angeles Dodgers went on to sweep the Kansas City Royals, buoyed by two home runs from Justin Turner.
Turner’s solo home run off Danny Duffy in the bottom of the first gave the Dodgers an early lead. Logan Forsythe cashed in a Trace Thompson leadoff triple in the third with an RBI single, and Turner followed with a two-run homer, putting the Royals in a 4-0 deficit.
Thompson’s triple was his first of the season and third extra-base hit with the Dodgers. Of Turner’s 10 home runs on the year, nine have come after May.
Kershaw came out of the gate strong, needing just 10 pitches to retire the side in order in the first inning, collecting two strikeouts in the process. He allowed a leadoff single to Eric Hosmer in the second but struck out two more to complete another scoreless inning.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner was up to six strikeouts through three shutout frames. That came to an end in the fourth when Hosmer clubbed a two-run homer to center field.
Kershaw blanked Kansas City from that point forward, and received another run of support when Austin Barnes took Danny Duffy deep in the sixth for a solo home run.
Kershaw’s efficiency carried into the seventh and eighth innings, as he needed just eight and seven pitches to get through each of those frames. Only at 89 pitches when the ninth began, he was afforded the opportunity to finish the game.
Two pitches netted two outs, but a Jorge Bonifacio grounder to third base hit the bag and went into foul territory off left field for a two-out double. Kershaw wrapped up the 5-2 win by striking out Alcides Escobar on his 10th pitch of the inning.
The complete game was Kershaw’s first of the season, though he threw nine innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 23 in a game the Dodgers went on to win in 13 innings.
Kershaw finished with 13 strikeouts, which was a third consecutive start he collected at least 11 strikeouts. The Dodgers closed out the first half with the best record in the Majors and improved to 50-0 this season when leading after five innings.
