Kershaw dominant; Dodgers beat Brewers

LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw bounced back from one of his worst post-season starts with one of his best, pitching the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2, on Wednesday to move one win from a return trip to the World Series.

The Dodgers took a 3-2 lead in Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series, boosted by Max Muncy’s goahead single in the sixth inning. Kershaw held the lead, scoring an insurance run in the seventh and then exiting.

Game 6 is Friday night in Milwaukee. The Brewers will start left-hander Wade Miley, who walked Cody Bellinger to open Game 5 before getting pulled in an interesting piece of strategy by manager Craig Counsell. Lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu will go for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers haven’t been in back-to-back World Series since losing to the Yankees in 1977 and ’78. They were beaten by Houston in Game 7 last year.

The teams reconvened less than 15 hours after the Dodgers eked out a 2-1 victory Tuesday night on Cody Bellinger’s RBI single with two outs in a 13-inning game that lasted over five hours.

Kershaw was well-rested and masterful in allowing one run and three hits over seven. He struck out nine, all on breaking pitches, and walked two.

Milwaukee had gone scoreless over the final eight innings Tuesday and the first two innings Wednesday.