Clayton Kershaw dominates again, Dodgers win 9-1

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Clayton Kershaw was really good tonight.

For over a decade, those words have been said repeatedly throughout the season. Tonight, Kershaw was almost as good as he’s ever been, tossing one of the more dominant starts that we’ve ever seen from him. The 31-year-old threw seven scoreless innings, walking none and striking out 10 in the Dodgers’ 9-1 victory over the Marlins.

It was the 165th career win for Kershaw, tying him with Sandy Koufax for the most wins in Dodgers history by a left-handed pitcher.

From the first batter of the game, it looked as if Kershaw was in for a special night. He was un-hittable early on, literally. The first seven Marlins were retired via the strikeout, the most to start a game in Dodgers franchise history. Eight of the first nine outs were strikeouts for Kershaw.

He finished with 10, the second time he’s reached double-digit strikeouts this season, and the 61st time in his career. The Marlins only were able to tack on two hits against Kershaw. It was the eighth time in his career that he threw at least seven scoreless while striking out 10 and issuing no walks, the second most in baseball history behind Randy Johnson’s 12.

Oh, he’s also thrown at least six innings in all 21 of his starts this season, the fourth longest streak to begin a season in Dodgers history.

On the offensive side of things, the Dodgers offense exploded for nine runs on 12 hits. For the third consecutive game, they hit four home runs, the first time in franchise history they’ve done that in three straight games.

Justin Turner got things going first, hitting his 21st homer of the season. It’s the 14th he’s hit since June 25, the third most in the National League over that stretch. A few batters later, Corey Seager followed with his 11th of the season.

Edwin Rios got in on the home run action, crushing not only his first career homer, but his second career long-ball as well.

Wednesday particulars

WP: Clayton Kershaw (12-2) 7 IP, 0 ER, 10 SO, 2 BB

LP: Elieser Hernandez (2-5) 6 IP, 6 ER,

Home runs: Justin Turner (21) Corey Seager (11) Edwin Rios (2) Curtis Granderson (11)

Box score

Up next

The Dodgers will look to complete the series sweep tomorrow. Walker Buehler will get the start for LA. First pitch is at 12:10 p.m. PT.