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Dodgers blank Phils, run streak to 10

Aug 18, 2013 - 2:11 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly made himself an unwanted guest in the eighth inning.

Mattingly might have spent three seconds on Clayton Kershaw's mound before the starter, with a quick shake of the head and with few words out of his unphased mouth, rerouted his manager back to the dugout, assuring him he was fine.

Kershaw, dominant like he had been all night, struck out Carlos Ruiz to escape his only jam of the evening and finish another stellar outing, a 5-0 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second of a three-game series.

The left-handed Kershaw (12-7) won for the fourth time in five decisions after tossing eight scoreless innings, in which he held the Phillies to three hits and struck out eight.

Kershaw lowered his ERA to a major league-best 1.80. He also moved atop the National League with his 182nd strikeout and leads the league with 190 1/3 innings pitched.

He also picked up an RBI double to send the Dodgers to their season-best 10th straight win and the 25th victory in Los Angeles' last 28 games.

Kyle Kendrick (10-10), who owned a 6.09 ERA over his previous 12 starts heading into Saturday, was a hard-luck loser after giving up two runs -- one earned -- on seven hits in six innings as the Phillies fell to 5-21 since the All-Star break.

The Dodgers quickly jumped in front in the first inning. Carl Crawford led off with an infield single and moved to second on Yasiel Puig's base hit. Adrian Gonzalez grounded a ball past first baseman John Mayberry Jr., ruled an error, to score Crawford. Kendrick proceeded to hit Hanley Ramirez, but escaped the threat without any more damage with a 1-2-3 double play and a groundout.

Los Angeles added to its lead in the fifth. Juan Uribe smoked a one-out double to right field and Kershaw sliced a double down the left-field line to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Kershaw cruised. He was perfect through four innings until Domonic Brown led off the fifth with a single. The Phillies did not put a runner in scoring position until Casper Wells lined a one-out double to left field in the eighth. After Kershaw walked Mayberry, he got Erik Kratz to pop up and got Ruiz fishing on a curveball in the dirt for strike three.

The Dodgers put the game away in the ninth. Luis Garcia walked A.J. Ellis and hit Skip Schumaker before Uribe made him pay with a long, three-run home run to left field.

Game Notes

Los Angeles won for the 42nd time in 50 games, the third-best 50-game stretch in major league history. The 1906 Chicago Cubs won 45, the 1912 New York Giants won 43, and the 1941 New York Yankees and 1942 St. Louis Cardinals each won 42 ... The Dodgers have not won 11 games in a row since doing so from July 28-August 8, 2006 ... Los Angeles won for the 19th time in its last 20 road games ... The Dodgers recorded their second straight shutout and lead the majors with 16 overall ... Kershaw has allowed one earned run or fewer in 15 of 26 starts ... Kershaw picked up his first win against the Phillies after nine starts. The only NL foe Kershaw has not beaten is the Atlanta Braves (four starts) ... Philadelphia starting pitchers have two wins over their last 29 weekend starts (Saturday or Sunday) ... The Phillies have been shutout 12 times.