Justin Turner hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to back Clayton Kershaw's eight strong innings with 10 strikeouts, giving the Dodgers a win over the Padres and their first comeback win of the season when trailing after seven innings.
LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw gets the start for the Dodgers in the series finale against the Padres on Thursday night, looking for a series win and looking to stop the bleeding for the Dodgers.
The club has lost four of its last five games and has dropped seven of its last 10 home games. The opposition has scored first in each of the Dodgers' last four games, including a start by Kershaw on Saturday against Milwaukee that saw him allow two home runs for the first time all season.
Kershaw didn't allow a single home run at home to the Padres in any of his first nine starts at Dodger Stadium against San Diego. But he has allowed at least one home run in each of his last four starts against the Padres in Los Angeles, six in all.
Those six home runs were hit by five players, and Everth Cabrera is the only one still on San Diego's roster, and he's on the 15-day disabled list. Chris Denorfia, now with Seattle, hit two here against Kershaw, Kyle Blanks hit another, and Chase Headley's solo shot on July 10 snapped Kershaw's 41-inning scoreless streak.
Kershaw is 6-4 with a 2.48 ERA against the Padres at home in 13 starts, with 76 strikeouts and 35 walks. But Kershaw's career ERA at Dodger Stadium is 2.17, so count San Diego as a team with relative success against him.
But the currently active Padres are 17-for-85 against Kershaw, hitting .200/.292/.247. Yasmani Grandal is 5-for-11 (.455) with a double and a walk against Kershaw, but only two other players have more than two career hits against him: Will Venable is 4-for-16 (.250) with two walks, and Chris Nelson is 3-for-8 (.375) with a walk.
The next hit Kershaw allows will be the 1,000th of his career. Opposing batters against him in his career have hit .210/.274/.310, the best in baseball across the board in those categories, including OPS+ (65).
Padres ace Tyson Ross opposes Kershaw on the mound on Thursday. He has lost all three starts this year against the Dodgers, though the last two were hard-luck defeats that saw him last seven innings each time and allow four total runs.
San Diego has scored three runs in his three starts against the Dodgers this season.
Game info
Time: 7:10 p.m. PT
TV: SportsNet LA