Slugfest! Kershaw wins, Dodgers bang 6 HRs, beat Pirates 8-3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw pitched his way to freedom while earning his first win in 2 ½ months.
The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner won’t be facing any further restrictions in his next start after a solid outing in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 8-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
Five Dodgers homered including Max Muncy with a pair, and the team’s six homers were the most they’ve hit at home since also launching six on Sept. 9, 2013, against Arizona.
“You want to get guys back in the dugout as fast as possible the way they’re swinging the bats,” said Kershaw, who was limited by a pitch count in his last three outings.
Ivan Nova (4-6) became the first pitcher in Pirates history to give up five homers in a game. Pittsburgh has been outscored 25-4 in the first two games of the series.
“They’re horses over there. It’s a stacked team,” Pirates third baseman David Freese said. “They’ve just got really good approaches right now and they’re on time, all of them are on time.”
The Dodgers have 11 homers three days into July and 122 so far this season after slugging a major league-leading and franchise-record 55 in June.
“It’s pretty remarkable what we’re doing,” manager Dave Roberts said. “When I look at what we’ve accomplished offensively, we’re in some uncharted territory.”
Kershaw (2-4) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings of his third start since coming off the disabled list. The left-handed ace’s two strikeouts were against Nova and Kershaw didn’t walk anyone to earn his first victory since April 15 at Arizona. He had two losses and four straight no-decisions since.
“His velo is down a little bit but he’s still got that cutter and he works it. He’s just a guy that locates,” Freese said. “You can sense when he’s out there that he trusts every pitch he’s about to throw. That’s that makes him really good.”
Kershaw had not gone as late as July 3 with just one win since his rookie year in 2008 when he didn’t earn his second victory until Aug. 7.
“It’s kind of what we wanted,” Roberts said of Kershaw. “The fifth and sixth innings were probably the best for me. The ball came out well. We can feel confident going forward the reins are off.”
Joc Pederson and Muncy homered back-to-back for the second straight game. Pederson sent Nova’s first pitch of the game over the right-field wall and Muncy followed with a shot to center field for a 2-0 lead.