01-02-2020, 12:47 AM
MILWAUKEE -- Clayton Kershaw has set the bar so high for himself that a six-hit outing over eight innings qualifies as a subpar effort for the two-time Cy Young Award winner. Brad Marchand Jersey . The Los Angeles Dodgers ace walked two and allowed leadoff hitters to reach base in four of his first five innings but still came away with his 11th straight victory in a 5-1 win Sunday over the Milwaukee Brewers. He struck out six, nearly five below his average per nine innings. This equates to "struggling" for Kershaw. "It was a struggle for him all day long. It felt like he was working hard but he kept battling and giving us chances," manager Don Mattingly said. Nevertheless, Kershaw (14-2) lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.78 and tied for the NL lead in victories. Adrian Gonzalez drove in two runs and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth off Jimmy Nelson (2-3), and the Dodgers avoided a three-game sweep in a matchup of divisional leaders. "It was a good one for us to bounce back and hopefully it gets us going in the right direction again," Mattingly said. Kershaw also reached base three times and had an RBI single in the eighth. On the mound, Kershaw benefited from base-running blunders and aggressive play by the Brewers that went awry. "Its fun to feel like a baseball player every once in a while," Kershaw said. "We get labeled as pitchers only sometimes so its fun to get some dirt on your jersey every once in a while." In the third, Nelson wasted his leadoff double after getting tagged out trying to advance from second on a grounder by Carlos Gomez. Later, Gomez was picked off first. Rickie Weeks hit a leadoff double in fifth. Two batters later, Jean Segura popped up a squeeze attempt caught by a charging Kershaw in front of the plate. He threw to third to easily double off Weeks. "I think anytime you face a pitcher like Kershaw, if you try to just get stagnant, I dont think much is going to happen," manager Ron Roenicke said. That strategy worked to perfection in the first. Gomez walked and stole second for his 25th steal of the year. Ryan Braun followed with an RBI single to stake Nelson to an early 1-0 lead. But after a strong first couple innings, Nelson appeared to have trouble keeping his sinker down. Nelson allowed eight hits and two runs in six innings -- too many against Kershaw, Gonzalez increased his season RBI total to 79. His run-scoring double in the seventh came after Carl Crawford singled and move to third following two throwing errors on a pickoff attempt. JIMMYS DAY Nelson could be in line to start against Kershaw again on Friday when the Brewers start a three-game series in Los Angeles. Consider Sunday a learning experience for Brewers rookie. "It is the high-stress pitches you want to stay away from. You dont want to have to battle through three of your six innings," he said. "I just have to get the ball in the zone earlier in the count and force them to have early swings." TRAINERS ROOM DODGERS: Shortstop Hanley Ramirez was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right rib cage muscle retroactive to Saturday. Manager Don Mattingly said the team was being overly cautious, and that Ramirez may need just the minimum time to recover. BREWERS: Matt Garza, placed on the disabled list on Aug. 5 for a left rib cage muscle strain, wont start throwing again until he is "completely pain-free," manager Ron Roenicke said. He added that Garza will likely need more than 15 days to return. UP NEXT DODGERS: Dan Haren (9-9) is the scheduled starter Monday in Atlanta, though Mattingly said newly-acquired right-hander Kevin Correia (5-13) would likely take a spot turn to give the rest of the rotation extra rest. Los Angeles is in the midst of a 20-day stretch without a day off. BREWERS: Milwaukee assured itself of a winning homestand against top NL West teams San Francisco and Los Angeles after taking the first two games against the Dodgers. Roenicke promised the teams focus wouldnt change when a four-game series starts Monday against the last-place Cubs in Chicago. Yovani Gallardo (6-6) gets the start. Derek Sanderson Jersey . The Toronto Maple Leafs were holding a news conference, so they got curious. It didnt take long for them to find out via social media that coach Randy Carlyle was coming back — with a two-year extension — and assistants Greg Cronin, Scott Gordon and Dave Farrish were being let go. Fernie Flaman Jersey . The question is how many minutes will be available to them and can any of their defence or goaltending provide value? Top Picks: Following a down year in 2011-2012, Matt Duchene rebounded with his highest points-per-game (0. https://www.cheapbruins.com/352m-andy-mo...ruins.html .That sight softened the blow of what ended up as a 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.Knowing their teammate was fine after a scary headfirst fall in the opening minute of the game helped calm the Maple Leafs. HARRISON, N.J. -- Omar Cummings helped the Houston Dynamo advance to the MLS Eastern Conference finals. Cummings scored in the 104th minute to help the Dynamo oust the New York Red Bulls with a 2-1 victory on Wednesday night. Cummings scored in the second minute of stoppage time on Sunday to give the Dynamo a 2-2 draw in the first leg. The Dynamo moved on with an aggregate score of 4-3. Houston will face Sporting Kansas City in the East finals, which start on Saturday. The Red Bulls led Sundays game 2-0 before Jamison Olave committed a foul that led to a red-card ejection and allowed Houston to rally for a 2-2 draw. "Its terrible, I guess you cant exorcise every game this year from this club," Red Bulls first-year coach Mike Petke said. "Hats off to Houston, theyre a playoff team and they proved it the last three years. We did it to ourselves these last two games. " On Wednesday night, Red Bulls defender Ibrahim Sekagyas errant pass led to the tying goal by Houston. "It was individual mistakes, and they happen," Petke said. Cummings came off the bench in both matches and Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear went to him in the 64th minute Wednesday. "I was trying to put some fresh legs closer to the goal and hope that something would come out of it and Omar has made me look good for two games in a row here," Kinnear said. Cummings got his foot on a ball that slipped past Red Bulls goalie Luis Robles at the near post. Houston, which won the 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups in its first two years in the league, reached the MLS Cup final in each of the past two seasons, losing in the final each time to the LL. Nels Stewart Jersey. A. Galaxy. The Red Bulls took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute on the first career playoff goal by Bradley Wright-Phillips. Lloyd Sam crossed the ball into the box and Dynamo goalie Tally Hall went down to grab it with two hands. But when he hit the ground, the ball squirted out of his grasp and Wright-Phillips was there to knock it into an open net from inside the 6-yard box. "I tried to pin it against the ground and it slipped out," Hall said. "Its a sinking feeling. Whether I made a mistake or not, I still have a job to do for the rest of the game. This team has a will to win like nothing Ive ever seen before. Thats why our jersey has two stars on it (2006 and 2007 MLS titles)." Hall made one of his best saves in the closing seconds of regulation when Thierry Henry hit a bicycle kick on goal, but the Houston goalie managed to block it with his leg. Houston took advantage of a Red Bulls mistake to tie it at 1-1 on a goal by Brad Davis. Sekagya attempted to clear the ball from the top of the penalty area by sending the ball across the middle. The rolling ball went right to the foot of Davis inside the box and he placed it past Robles. "The guy looked up and I knew he was going to try and play it across," Davis said. "Luckily he mishit it, I looked up and it was the goalie and me." The Red Bulls dominated Houston during the regular season, winning all three matches. But the Dynamo extended New Yorks playoff futility, making the Red Bulls winless in their past six playoff games. The Red Bulls had come into the playoffs with an eight-game unbeaten string of 6-0-2. ' ' '