Kershaw bags record in Dodgers’ win
Pitcher Clayton Kershaw became MLB’s first 20-game winner this season after the Dodgers thrash the Cubs 14-5.
Clayton Kershaw became Major League Baseball’s first 20-game winner and AJ Ellis hit a pair of two-run homers, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 14-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Major League Baseball.
Kershaw (20-3) pitched five shaky innings in his shortest start in three-and-a-half months but the NL West-leading Dodgers roughed up Edwin Jackson on their way to a 13-hit attack that included four homers.
Matt Kemp hit a three-run shot in Los Angeles’ six-run first, and Yasiel Puig added another three-run homer in the sixth.
In other games around the league, Pittsburgh inched closer to a playoff spot with a 4-2 win over the Brewers, Detroit extended its lead in the AL Central division by routing Kansas City 10-1, Oakland defeated Philadelphia 3-1 to regain the top spot in the chase for AL wild cards, and St. Louis maintained a 2½ -game lead in the NL Central division with a 2-1 win over Cincinnati.
Elsewhere, Tim Hudson allowed four runs in the first inning and San Francisco was held to three hits in a 5-0 loss to San Diego.
In New York, Jacoby Ellsbury and Derek Jeter kept Toronto’s Mark Buehrle winless against the Yankees for more than a decade in a 5-3 loss.
Texas’ Ryan Rua had four hits and Jake Smolinski homered as the Rangers beat the playoff-bound Los Angeles Angels 12-3 for their seventh straight victory.
In Baltimore, David Ortiz hit two home runs, including a two-run drive in the 10th inning that lifted Boston past the AL East-champion Orioles 5-3.
In other scores, Washington topped Miami 3-2, the Chicago White Sox topped Tampa Bay 4-3, Colorado routed Arizona 15-3, Minnesota edged Cleveland 5-4 in 10 innings, and Seattle cruised past Houston 10-5.