The Los Angeles Dodgers went into the Freeway Series finale needing a win to split the four-game set with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. A swap in the Dodgers rotation put Clayton Kershaw on the mound Thursday night.
He went seven strong innings, with only one unearned run allowed, and a season-high 12 strikeouts. Kershaw’s dominant outing was backed by an offense that did its damage via the longball.
With the game tied in the fifth inning, Yasiel Puig hit a rocket out to left field for a solo home run. The homer was Puig’s 15th this season, which is his most since hitting 16 homers during a 2014 All-Star campaign.
Two batters later, JC Chavez surrendered a solo home run to Chase Utley. Chavez was stung by the home run again in the sixth, as Joc Pederson clobbered a three-run shot to put the game out of reach.
The home run was Pederson’s eighth this season; six have come since he returned from the concussion disabled list. Pederson, who also has four doubles during that same span, credited his turnaround at the plate to refinements made at the direction of Triple-A Oklahoma City hitting coach Shawn Wooten.
With their three homers on Thursday, the Dodgers reached 50 home runs as a team during June, their most for a single calendar month in franchise history.
