June 13, 2017

Cody Bellinger hit a pair of home runs and Clayton Kershaw pitched seven strong innings as the Dodgers topped the Indians 7-5 on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.

Bellinger’s 2nd homer of the game was a three-run shot in the 9th inning, and came off of Andrew Miller (3-1), who took the loss.  It also came with Justin Turner and Corey Seager aboard, and was the 17th homer of the season for the LA rookie.  That put LA up 7-2, and gave them much needed insurance.

Kershaw (9-2) got the win after giving up two runs on six hits in his seven innings of work.  The Dodger ace struck out four, walked two, and departed after 101 pitches.

The only runs the Indians scored off Kershaw came from an RBI single from Michael Brantley, and a solo homer from Roberto Perez.

Yasiel Puig delivered a 2-run bomb in the 2nd inning with Chris Taylor aboard, giving the Dodgers an early 2-0 lead.  Puig directed a pair of obscene gestures at a fan in a dugout suite as he crossed home plate following his homer.

Bellinger’s first homer of the night was a solo shot that gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead in the 8th inning.

After Pedro Baez pitched a scoreless 8th inning, Chris Hatcher gave up a 3-run homer in the 9th to Daniel Robertson.  However, Kenley Jansen came in to record the final out of the game.

Kershaw has not lost in his last eight starts.   He is 5-0 with a 1.94 ERA since his most recent defeat on May 1.

Trevor Bauer allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.  He was removed in the 6th with the bases loaded.

Game 2 of the series will be on Wednesday evening.  Brandon McCarthy (5-3, 3.28 ERA) will be on the hill for LA.  Corey Kluber (5-2, 4.38 ERA) gets the call for the Tribe.