Dodgers drop series finale vs. Yankees, 5-1

The Yankees sluggers got the best of Clayton Kershaw, powering their way to a 5-1 win to take the series.

The scoring started very early ... like, third pitch of the game early. DJ LeMahieu took Kershaw deep to leadoff, putting the Yankees up 1-0. It was the first time LeMahieu homered off Kersh after facing one another in 66 plate appearances.

This lead didn’t last very long because Joc Pederson also hit a leadoff homer to even the score. Only difference between the LeMahieu and Pederson home runs was Joc’s dinger came on the first pitch. It seemed like a sign of what was to come, but the Dodgers failed to score for the remainder of the game.

Kersh cruised through a 1-2-3 second inning before getting dinged for another homer. This time, Aaron Judge was responsible. By the swing of one bat, the Dodgers were back down 2-1.

Judge successfully hit a home run in each of the three games this series. It happened to be a #BiggerThanBaseball moment because before the game, Judge promised a fan he would hit a homer for him.

Kersh surrendered his last homer of the night in the sixth inning to Mike Ford. It put the Yankees up 3-1.

Despite giving up three home runs to match a season high, Kershaw struck out a season high 12 batters. He finished his night after seven innings pitched, allowing four hits and no walk. It was the homers that did the damage, and he took his third loss of the year.

The Yankees tacked on a couple extra runs late in the game to give themselves some more cushion. After all, with the way the Dodgers tend to make comebacks, adding on runs is a good idea.

A combination of a DJ LeMahieu base hit and a Mike Ford double worked to score off Pedro Báez to take a 4-1 lead.

Adam Kolarek came in to pitch the ninth inning and hold the score. Unfortunately, that isn’t what happened. Brett Gardner got aboard with a base hit. Then, in a pickoff attempt gone wrong, he was able to advance to third base with no outs. He eventually came in to score the final run of the contest.

Aroldis Chapman, AKA “The Missile”, came to shut the Dodgers down in the ninth and he did exactly that. Corey Seager was able to work a leadoff walk, but it didn’t do much since the next three batters struck out. Chapman touched 101 mph twice against Will Smith ... “The Missile” is such a fitting nickname.

Overall, it wasn’t a pretty game for the Dodgers. Their offense struggled to get anything going against Domingo Germán and Kershaw’s three mistakes were enough to lose the game 5-1.

Sunday particulars

WP: Domingo Germán (17-3), 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR

LP: Clayton Kershaw (13-3), 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 12 K, 1 HR

Home runs: DJ LeMahieu (22), Joc Pederson (26), Aaron Judge (16), Mike Ford (6)

Box score

Up next

The Dodgers will try to brush off this series loss with a road trip that starts in San Diego. Game one is on Monday at 7:10 p.m. PT.