ST. LOUIS—Clayton Kershaw tossed six shutout innings and Shohei Ohtani hit his National League-leading 39th home run to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2–1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
Miguel Rojas and Gavin Lux had three hits apiece as the National League West-leading Dodgers won for the seventh time in their past 10 games.
“Every time I play defense behind [Kershaw], you know you’re playing defense behind a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Lux said.
Lars Nootbaar provided a pinch-hit homer in the eighth for the Cardinals, who have lost six of their past seven games.
Ohtani drilled a first-pitch offering from Sonny Gray over the wall in the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie. Rojas added a run-scoring single later in the inning.
Kershaw (2–2) allowed four hits and struck out two. The three-time Cy Young Award winner threw 70 pitches in his fifth start since undergoing shoulder surgery in November. It was the longest outing of the year by innings for the left-hander, who made his season debut on July 25.
“I got a lot of groundballs that kept the pitch count down,” Kershaw said. “It gave us what we needed today.”
Kershaw displayed some flashes of his old form. He said he feels better now than he has in a long time.
“I don’t even remember what it felt like to not have my shoulder hurt,” Kershaw said. “It’s nice to wake up and everything feels good.”
It was his first scoreless start since Sept. 23, 2023, when he pitched five shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants.
“He stepped up and did what he always seems to do,” Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said. “He commanded the fastball on both sides of the plate.”
Michael Kopech picked up his 11th save, and second for the Dodgers since being acquired from the Chicago White Sox, with a scoreless ninth. He got Nolan Arenado to hit into a game-ending double play.
The Dodgers took two of three in the series to finish a 4–3 trip. They split four games at National League Central-leading Milwaukee.
“It’s good for us that we have to play under pressure,” Rojas said. “It going to be beneficial for us going down the stretch. We need to win games like this.”
Gray (11–8) gave up two runs and seven hits over five innings. He struck out six.
Trainer’s Room
Dodgers: First baseman Freddie Freeman sat out after taking a grounder off his middle finger in Saturday’s game. X-rays were negative and he is day-to-day, but Roberts thinks Freeman might be sidelined at least a few more days. “I can’t see him playing [Monday],” Roberts said.Up Next
Dodgers: Right-hander Gavin Stone (10–5, 3.63 earned-run average) is set to face Seattle right-hander Bryan Woo (5–1, 2.06) in the opener of a three-game series Monday in Los Angeles.Cardinals: Right-hander Erick Fedde (8–6, 3.40 is the scheduled starter against Milwaukee right-hander Frankie Montas (5–8, 4.86) on Tuesday in St. Louis. Fedde was acquired from the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade on July 29.
