Trayce Thompson pulled a one-out double down the left field line in the bottom of the fifth. Then with two outs and Thompson at third base, Pomeranz intentionally walked Ellis to face Kershaw. The strategy paid off as Kershaw struck out swinging.
Kershaw continued to mow his way through the Padres’ lineup in the sixth, opening and closing the inning with a strikeout to give him eight on the day. Dodgers’ bats continued to go quiet, with Pomeranz retiring Puig, Hernandez and Gonzalez in order in the bottom of the sixth.
Jay fell to 0-for-3 on the day with the strikeouts as he went down swinging to start the seventh. Wil Myers then beat the Dodgers’ shift with a grounder through the hole at second base, and Kemp followed with a flare single to put runners on the corners with one out.
Kershaw worked his way out of trouble by striking out Upton Jr. and getting Norris to fly out. Turner reached with no outs in the bottom of the seventh on an Adam Rosales error, but the Padres third baseman redeemed himself immediately after to start a double play on a Howie Kendrick grounder.
Ramirez and Rosales both were unable to check their swings and struck out in the eighth. Christian Bethancourt, pinch-hitting for Jemile Weeks, fouled out on the first pitch he saw. Ellis drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth but was stranded, and the Dodgers’ lead remained stuck at 1-0.
No matter, the one run Kershaw supplied was all that was needed, as he ran his strikeout total to 14 en route to retiring the side in order in the ninth to notch his 22nd career complete game, 13 of which are shutouts.
