Sep 29, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers teammates spray champagne and beer on starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) in the locker room after clinching the NL west after a win against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants 8-0. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West title Tuesday night, riding the one-hit shutout pitching of left-hander Clayton Kershaw to an 8-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Center fielder Enrique Hernandez, left fielder Justin Ruggiano and catcher A.J. Ellis hit solo home runs off Giants ace lefty Madison Bumgarner, powering the Dodgers to the 14th NL West crown in franchise history.
The Dodgers (88-69) will open the playoffs next Friday against the New York Mets (89-68), champions of the NL East. Home-field advantage in the best-of-5 series will be determined by best record.
L.A. will be making its third consecutive trip to the postseason, a franchise first. The Dodgers have earned a playoff berth in six of the last 10 seasons.
The loss formally ended the Giants’ bid for consecutive World Series championships. The club has won titles in 2010, ’12 and ’14, and then failed to make the playoffs the following season each time.
In pitching the Dodgers to their first win in San Francisco in eight tries this season, Kershaw (16-7) got the better of Bumgarner (18-9) for the first time in four head-to-heads this season.
The reigning NL Most Valuable Player allowed a third-inning single to first baseman Kevin Frandsen, a walk to center fielder Angel Pagan two batters later and retired the other 27 Giants he faced.
He struck out 13, the 42nd double-digit strikeout outing of his career, and threw 104 pitches in running his career record against the Giants to 16-7.
The 13 strikeouts put Kershaw at 294 for the season. He’s never recorded a 300-strikeout season.
Hernandez homered in the third inning, and Ruggiano and Ellis went back-to-back in the sixth, running the Dodgers’ season total to 184, which leads the league.
The Dodgers busted the game open in the eighth, using five consecutive hits, including a two-run, pinch-hit triple from Andre Ethier, to tack on four runs against the Giants bullpen and stretch their lead to 8-0.
Bumgarner was pulled with two outs in the sixth inning after Ellis’ homer, trailing 4-0.
He failed for a third consecutive time to record a 19th win, allowing three earned runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out six.
The reigning World Series MVP had recorded 2-1 and 4-0 wins over Kershaw earlier in the season.
Hernandez, Ellis and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez had two hits apiece for the Dodgers, who had lost four in a row and eight of their last 10.
The Giants (82-75) had won three in a row, including 3-2 in 12 innings in the series opener Monday to keep their slim division hopes alive.
In just his second game back after a strained hamstring landed him on the disabled list, Hernandez got the Dodgers offense rolling immediately, leading off the game with a single.
He went to third when Giants second baseman Kelby Tomlinson booted a potential double-play grounder off the bat of Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick, and scored on third baseman Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly.
The run was unearned.
Hernandez took matters completely into his own hands in the third inning, smacking his seventh home run of the season to left-center field for a 2-0 lead.
NOTES: Dodgers manager Don Mattingly went with a completely different starting outfield Tuesday (LF Justin Ruggiano, CF Enrique Hernandez, RF Scott Van Slyke) against Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner than Monday (LF Carl Crawford, CF Joc Pederson, RF Andre Ethier) against RHP Jake Peavy. … Mattingly didn’t switch starting shortstops, giving rookie SS Corey Seager, a left-handed hitter, the nod over switch-hitting SS Jimmy Rollins because, “(Seager) gives us the best chance to win today.” … Giants manager Bruce Bochy said before the game that C/1B Buster Posey will catch only when Bumgarner starts the rest of the season. … Giants LF Nori Aoki (concussion) flew to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to be examined by concussion specialist Dr. Mickey Collins. Aoki could return as a pinch-hitter by week’s end if he gets clearance. … Giants RHP Tim Lincecum (hip surgery) watched the game from the dugout for the final time this season. The pending free agent begins a rehab program in Arizona on Wednesday and hopes to be fully healthy by the start of spring training.
