Kershaw Makes Strong Cy Young Case After Dominant Performance Over Rockies
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Clayton Kershaw scattered four hits over six innings, Carl Crawford and A.J. Ellis each homered and drove in three runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 11-0 Friday night.
Kershaw (16-9) lowered his ERA to 1.83, becoming the first pitcher to lead the majors in ERA in three consecutive seasons since Atlanta's Greg Maddux from 1993-95.
The left-hander joined Houston's Roger Clemens (1.87) and Boston's Pedro Martinez (1.74) as the only qualifying pitchers since 2000 to post an ERA under 2.00. Kershaw is the first Dodgers pitcher to do so since Sandy Koufax had a 1.73 ERA in 1966.
Kershaw struck out eight and walked none in totaling a career-high 236 innings this season. Favored to win the NL Cy Young Award, Kershaw leads the league with 232 strikeouts.
His next start for the NL West champions will come in the NL division series opener Thursday at Atlanta or St. Louis.
Rookie Collin McHugh (0-3) gave up eight runs and nine hits in four innings, struck out three and walked one.
The Dodgers' Juan Uribe went 3 for 4, and Mark Ellis went 3 for 5, with both driving in two runs.
Crawford's three-run homer in the fourth scored Kershaw, who singled, and Yasiel Puig, who walked, for an 8-0 lead.
Adrian Gonzalez got his 100th RBI of the season with a solo shot in the third that extended the Dodgers' lead to 5-0.
Los Angeles jumped on McHugh in the first, taking a 4-0 lead with two outs on a two-run double by Uribe and RBI singles by A.J. Ellis and Mark Ellis.
A.J. Ellis hit a two-run homer off reliever Jeff Manship in the fifth. Mark Ellis's RBI single with two outs in the sixth made it 11-0.
Notes: Puig fouled a pitch off his left leg in the fifth and was hobbling as he flied out to right field. He then left the game. ... Rockies RF Michael Cuddyer went 0 of 4, dropping his league-leading average to .333. In pursuit of his first career batting title, he has a nine-point lead over Atlanta's Chris Johnson. ... Dodgers SS Nick Punto was scratched with an in-grown right toenail. ... The Dodgers hosted their first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender night. "Glee" co-star Amber Riley was joined by the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles for the national anthem. Former Dodger Billy Bean, the second major league player to come out as gay, and NBA player Jason Collins, who came out earlier this year, each tossed first pitches. Lance Bass of `N Sync, who came out in 2006, started the game with "It's time for Dodger baseball."
