ST. LOUIS – Shohei Ohtani hit his National League-leading 39th home run and Clayton Kershaw tossed six shutout innings 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 NL West leaders won for the seventh time in 10 games.
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Lars Nootbaar provided a pinch-hit homer in the eighth for the Cardinals, who have lost six of seven.
Ohtani drilled a first-pitch offering from Sonny Gray over the wall in the fifth 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 made his fifth major league start since undergoing shoulder surgery in November. It marked the longest outing of the year for the left-hander, who made his season debut on July 25.
Michael Kopech picked up his 11th save and second for the Dodgers with a scoreless ninth. He got Nolan Arenado to hit into a game-ending double play.
Gray (11-8) gave up two runs and seven hits over five innings. He struck out six.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: 1B 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.
Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn is expected to throw batting practice on Tuesday. He was placed on the 15-day injured list July 31 with right knee soreness.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: RHP Gavin Stone (10-5, 3.63 ERA) faces Seattle RHP Bryan Woo (5-1, 2.06) in the opener of a three-game series Monday in Los Angeles.
Cardinals: RHP Erick Fedde (8-6, 3.40 ERA) pitches against Milwaukee RHP Frankie Montas (5-8, 4.86) on Tuesday in St. Louis. Fedde was acquired in a three-team trade from the Chicago White Sox on July 29.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb