• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Kershaw gets nod with NL West title on line

Sep 24, 2014 - 2:57 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - It's only fitting that Clayton Kershaw is the one with a chance to pitch the Los Angeles Dodgers to a second straight National League West title.

Kershaw gets the start on Wednesday night in the rubber match of a three-game series with the rival San Francisco Giants.

Likely headed to a second straight NL Cy Young Award, Kershaw is a big reason that the Dodgers have reached at least 90 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1977-78. He is 20-3 with a 1.80 earned run average on the season, one victory shy of the career-high 21 he won in 2011, his first Cy Young-winning season.

Kershaw, who leads the majors in ERA and is tied for the most wins in baseball, wasn't in top form last time out on Friday versus the Chicago Cubs, but his offense picked him up in a 14-5 win. Kershaw allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks over just five innings, striking out nine.

The left-hander had gone at least eight innings in each of his previous seven outings and Friday marked the first time he failed to log at least seven frames of work since a five-inning outing on June 8.

Still, Kershaw was able to reach the 20-win mark.

"I like the position our team's in and 20 wins has helped them get there," Kershaw said.

The Giants have seen plenty of Kershaw's best in this rivalry as he is 13-5 against them with a 1.44 ERA.

After losing the opener of this series, the Dodgers outlasted the Giants 4-2 on Tuesday night. That restored their 4 1/2-game lead over San Francisco for first place in the division and gave Los Angeles a magic number of one to clinch a second straight NL West crown.

Justin Turner homered twice off San Francisco starter Madison Bumgarner and Matt Kemp added a two-run homer. His first-inning blast came after Bumgarner hit Yasiel Puig with a pitch on the left foot, causing both stars to jaw at each other and the benches to empty, though no punches were thrown and nobody was ejected.

Zack Greinke did his part on the mound for L.A. by hurling eight solid innings to win his 16th game. The only mistake he made was a two-run homer off the bat of Bumgarner.

"He's really good and he has pitched really good against us," Turner said of Bumgarner. "Zack went out there and Zack looked better tonight."

The Giants could have clinched a playoff spot with a win after Milwaukee lost in Cincinnati on Tuesday. Instead, they are a game behind Pittsburgh for the league's first wild card spot and can clinch at least the second bonus playoff berth with a victory tonight or a loss by the Brewers to the Reds.

Bumgarner pitched into the eighth inning but had a three-game winning streak at Dodger Stadium snapped. He lost for the first time in his last eight starts after allowing four runs, six hits and no walks.

"We're just trying to win. That's it," Bumgarner said. "All we can worry about is going out there and getting a win tomorrow."

Tasked with that chore is veteran Tim Hudson, who is battling a hip injury and has lost three straight starts. Hudson has managed to log just a total of 5 1/3 innings combined in his past two, with his three-game skid locking up the first losing season of his 16-year career.

Hudson gave up six runs over one inning of a loss to the Dodgers on Sept. 13, then gave up five runs -- four earned -- in 4 1/3 frames in a setback to San Diego on Friday.

"I felt pretty good today, actually," Hudson said following his outing versus the Padres, one that dropped him to 9-12 on the year with a 3.52 ERA.

The 39-year-old righty is 6-5 in his career versus the Dodgers with a 3.98 ERA.

The Dodgers have won six of their past eight versus the Giants.