Kershaw fires Dodgers to win over Giants
— Clayton Kershaw took a share of the major league lead with his seventh win and earned career victory No. 20 against the rival Giants, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers avoid a sweep by beating San Francisco 6-1 in Major League Baseball on Wednesday.
Kershaw (7-2) struck out five in seven shutout innings and retired the first 10 batters he faced before Justin Ruggiano’s fourth-inning single. The left-hander moved into a tie for most wins with Houston’s Dallas Keuchel.
Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run double in the first and Yasiel Puig singled in a pair of runs in the sixth as the Dodgers jumped on Johnny Cueto (4-3), who lost for the first time at home this season.
Kershaw allowed three hits and didn’t walk a batter for the fourth time in 2017 as the Dodgers snapped their three-game skid and ended the Giants’ season-best five-game winning streak.
The benches cleared briefly after the top of the third when Cueto and Grandal exchanged words. It happened just after Cueto’s high, inside pitch flew wildly past catcher Buster Posey, allowing another Dodgers run.
Astros vs. Marlins
— Lance McCullers paid tribute to the late Jose Fernandez and pitched like him, allowing no earned runs for the third start in a row, and Houston completed a three-game sweep.
McCullers (4-1) wore cleats with Fernandez’s initials and uniform number. Their friendship began when they were high school pitchers in the Tampa area, before Fernandez became the Marlins’ ace and then died in a boating accident last September.
McCullers limited Miami to three hits in six innings and lowered his ERA to 2.65.
The Astros (29-12) have the best record in the majors and their fourth consecutive win lifted them 17 games above .500 for the first time since 2004. Jose Urena (1-2) limited Houston to three runs, one earned, in 5 2/3 innings.
Diamondbacks vs. Mets
PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Herrmann homered off Rafael Montero leading off the 11th inning, sending New York to its season-high seventh straight loss.
Montero (0-3) relieved to start the 11th, and Herrmann worked the count full, fouled off a pitch and con- nected on a belt-high fastball for his first game-ending home run in the major leagues.
New York went 0-6 in Milwaukee and Arizona, the Mets’ longest winless trip since 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. At 16-23, New York dropped seven games under .500 for the first time September 2014.
Tom Wilhelmsen (1-1) walked Matt Reynolds and Lucas Duda with two outs in the 11th before throwing a called third strike past Jose Reyes.
Rays vs. Indians
— Corey Dickerson hit a three-run shot — his third homer in two days — and Alex Cobb controlled Cleveland over seven innings as Tampa Bay completed its most successful road trip in a year.