SALON

Sunday, Apr 22, 2012 3:15 AM UTC

Kemp homers again as Dodgers beat Astros 5-1

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Kemp homers again as Dodgers beat Astros 5-1Los Angeles Dodgers' James Loney (7) rounds the bases between third base coach Tim Wallach (26) and Houston Astros third baseman Chris Johnson on a solo homer in the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 21, 2012, in Houston. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)(Credit: AP)

HOUSTON (AP) — Matt Kemp set a franchise record for home runs through 15 games with his ninth of the season to back up a solid outing by Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers got a 5-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.

Kemp’s two-run shot to center field in the sixth inning off Kyle Weiland (0-3) scored Dee Gordon, extending the lead to 3-0 and giving him a home run in three straight games. It also extended his major league-leading RBI total to 22 and his hitting streak to 10 games.

James Loney gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a two-out homer to the second deck in right field.

Kershaw (1-0), the NL Cy Young winner, struck out nine and allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings for his first win this season after no decisions in his first three games this year. The victory extends his career-long winning streak to nine games, dating back to an Aug. 13, 2011 win over the Astros.

Kemp, who had three hits including a two-run homer on Friday night, struck out in the first inning and jawed with the home plate umpire for a bit after he struck out again — this time looking — in the fourth.

Gordon had a bunt single with one out in the sixth and later advanced to third on a throwing error by Weiland. Kemp’s first-pitch homer came with two outs and was his first of the season that wasn’t an opposite-field shot to right.

Gordon doubled with two outs in the eighth before consecutive walks by Adam Kennedy and Kemp. Andre Ethier’s two RBI single pushed his RBI total to 21, which is second in the majors, and left the Dodgers up 5-0.

Kershaw allowed a single with one out in the second, but didn’t allow another hit until a ground-rule double by Matt Downs with two outs in the fifth. He intentionally walked Chris Snyder before Weiland grounded into a force out to end that inning.

Houston’s only other hit off Kershaw came on a single by J.D. Martinez with two outs in the sixth.

Justin Maxwell singled off Mike MacDougal with one out in the eighth before he walked Jordan Schafer and Jose Altuve to load the bases. Kenley Jansen replaced him and walked Martinez to get Houston within 3-1.

Carlos Lee popped out before Kemp snagged a long fly ball hit by Jed Lowrie to end the threat.

Weiland got back on track after the early homer to Loney. Kershaw singled with one out in the third, but Weiland faced the minimum in that inning thanks to a double play. He sailed through the fourth before allowing a leadoff double to Juan Rivera and walking Loney in the fifth. His defense helped him get out of that inning with another double play.

Weiland yielded six hits and three runs — both season lows — with a season-high six strikeouts in seven innings.

NOTES: Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said infielder Juan Uribe had recovered from an injured wrist and he expects him to start Sunday. … These teams wrap up the series Sunday when Houston left-hander Wandy Rodriguez (0-2) looks for his first win against Chad Billingsley, who is 2-0 this season.

More Kristie Rieken.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments are not enabled for this story.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations