Los Angeles, CA – Clayton Kershaw fired eight strong innings of two-run ball in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays to complete a three-game sweep.
Only one of Kershaw's two runs was earned. He fanned eight and surrendered just three hits and two walks over eight innings for the Dodgers, who have won 10 of their last 11 games. He also had a two-run single to open the scoring in the second.
"Clayton took care of his own business early. It was nice to get him some runs early. Clayton attacked the strike zone like he normally does and he forces you to swing early," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.
Mark Ellis smacked a two-run homer among his three hits to go with three RBI in the triumph.
Jeremy Hellickson allowed four runs on seven hits over just three frames for Tampa Bay, which dropped its fifth straight contest.
"We haven't given ourselves a chance the last two games. The Dodgers are very hot right now, they are getting production out of a lot of guys," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.
The Dodgers jumped out to a 6-0 lead after plating three in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth.
With the bases loaded and one away in the third, Kershaw poked a base hit to right to plate two and he came across two batters later on a Mark Ellis double. A.J. Ellis' sacrifice fly in the third and a two-run, one-out double off the bat of Adrian Gonzalez in the fourth gave LA its six-run spread.
Sam Fuld's RBI triple in the fifth got the Rays on the board before Mark Ellis' two-run homer in the sixth increased the Dodgers' lead to 8-1.
Tampa Bay loaded the bags with none away in the eighth, but only came away with a run on Wil Myers' sacrifice fly.
Game Notes
Five of the Dodgers' eight runs came with two outs ... Los Angeles was 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position ... Los Angeles is 37-8 over its last 45 games.
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