LOS ANGELES – Matt Kemp did it again for the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting his second game-ending homer in five days.
Kemp's two-run shot in the 12th inning gave the Dodgers a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
Kemp hit another two-run homer Sunday against St. Louis after the Dodgers entered the ninth trailing 1-0.
"Matty's awesome," Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw said. "I told him what an incredible job he did and thanks for picking me up. In that situation, where both bullpens are getting eaten up, for Matty to pull it out like that with an 0-2 count, it was an awesome at-bat."
Both teams were down to their final strike much earlier.
David Ross hit a two-out, two-run single off Kershaw in the top of the ninth to put the Braves ahead 3-2. Casey Blake, who had homered earlier, hit an RBI single with two outs in the bottom half to make it 3-all.
Andre Ethier, who extended his career-best hitting streak to 18 games with an infield single in the third inning, doubled with one out in the Dodgers 12th against Christhian Martinez (0-1). Kemp drove an 0-2 pitch over the fence in left-center for his fourth homer of the season.
Matt Guerrier (1-0) pitched two innings for his first NL victory after seven seasons with Minnesota.
Kershaw took a two-hitter and 2-1 lead into the ninth. Chipper Jones singled with two outs and Dan Uggla followed with a single — when the throw went to third, Uggla hustled to second and made a headfirst slide to barely beat the throw.
After rookie Freddie Freeman walked on a full-count pitch to load the bases, the 23-year-old Kershaw got a visit from rookie manager Don Mattingly. Kershaw was allowed to stay in and Ross singled on an 0-2 pitch to put Atlanta in front.
"I threw three pitches in the same spot and the third one he got," Kershaw said. "It's where I wanted all three of them. It got in on him a little bit, but he was strong enough to get it into the outfield. You live and die with the fastball, and I'm glad I threw that pitch.
"I love the fact that Donnie had enough confidence to keep me out there. I want the ball in that situation so that win or lose, it would be in my hands. You know, 27 outs are hard to get, so I learned my lesson today."
In the Dodgers ninth, Jamey Carroll drew a leadoff walk from Craig Kimbrel and advanced on a wild pitch. Blake singled on an 0-2 pitch, handing Kimbrel his first blown save in five chances.
"I tried to go with a fastball away, and it just would up over the plate," Kimbrel said. "I didn't get the pitch where I wanted to and he made me pay."
Kershaw faced the minimum 12 batters through the first four innings. He retired his first 10, then gave up a single to Alex Gonzalez in the fourth before picking him off.
In the fifth, Freeman opened the scoring with a home run to right field on a 2-2 pitch.
Juan Uribe tied it with a leadoff homer in the sixth against Jair Jurrjens, his first with the Dodgers after hitting a career-high 24 last season for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants. The 11-year veteran had four RBIs in Wednesday game, after driving in only three runs in his first 60 at-bats of the season.
Blake put the Dodgers ahead 2-1 in the seventh, connecting against Scott Linebrink for his first home run of the season.
Jurrjens allowed a run and seven hits over six innings and struck out six.
"You know that when you face the ace on the other team, you need to limit the runs," Jurrjens said. "Kershaw is a good pitcher, a strikeout pitcher and a dominant pitcher. And he showed that today until the ninth."
NOTES: Thursday marked the 121st anniversary of the first win by the Dodgers franchise, which was then known as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. The team they beat was the Boston Beaneaters, who are now the Braves. In honor of that occasion, both teams wore throwback uniforms, with Atlanta dressed in circa-1944 Boston Braves apparel. ... Braves RF Jason Heyward, who was 0 for 13 in the first three games of this series and struck out three times on Wednesday, got the day off against a left-handed starter. He is 3 for 41 lifetime against Dodgers pitching with 15 strikeouts. ... Thursday marked the Dodgers' 900th consecutive regular-season home game since their last rainout on April 17, 2000, against Houston. It also was the 44th anniversary of their first rainout at Chavez Ravine.
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