Clayton Kershaw worked into the seventh inning, and Joc Pederson drove in two runs as the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 7-3 interleague victory Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.
In his first career appearance at Tropicana Field, Kershaw (4-0) took a shutout into the seventh inning, but both of his baserunners scored in the frame after he left the game.
The left-hander struck out eight, walked one and gave up six hits in 6 1/3 innings. The Dodgers improved to 7-0 in his starts this season and have won 15 consecutive times he has taken the mound going back to last season.
Austin Meadows had two hits. He drove in a run as the Rays rallied with three runs in the seventh inning, but they could not close the gap any further.
Hunter Wood (1-1) started for the Rays and gave up an unearned run on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts in two innings. He was followed by Jalen Beeks, who allowed five runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings.
The Dodgers got their offense going early, helped by a miscue from Rays right fielder Avisail Garcia. Justin Turner singled to right in the first inning, and when Garcia misplayed the ball for an error, Max Muncy was able to score from first base.
Turner made it 2-0 in the third inning on a sacrifice fly, and the Dodgers increased the lead to 3-0 an inning later on an RBI single from Austin Barnes.
Three consecutive RBI singles in the seventh inning from Enrique Hernandez, Corey Seager and Pederson pushed the lead to 6-0. Pederson added an RBI double in the ninth.
The Rays closed the gap in their half of the seventh after Kershaw allowed a single and a double before exiting in favor of right-hander Pedro Baez. Willy Adames' comebacker then hit Baez in the right leg. The ball rebounded into foul territory on the third base side as Daniel Robertson scored. Baez had to leave the game with a contusion.
The Rays then added an RBI single from Meadows and a run-scoring double from Tommy Pham against left-hander Scott Alexander.
The Dodgers' defense halted a Rays scoring threat in the eighth inning when center fielder Alex Verdugo threw out Kevin Kiermaier at third base while trying to extend his hit to the left-center-field wall into a triple.
--Field Level Media
LA Dodgers | Tampa Bay | |
Clayton Kershaw | Player | Hunter Wood |
Win | W/L | Loss |
6.1 | IP | 2.0 |
8 | Strikeouts | 3 |
6 | Hits | 2 |
2.84 | ERA | 0.00 |
LA Dodgers | Tampa Bay | |
Joc Pederson | Player | Avisail Garcia |
2 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 3 |
1.000 | Avg | .667 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
LA Dodgers | 12 | 0 | 15 | .316 | 21 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
Tampa Bay | 10 | 0 | 14 | .278 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |