The Los Angeles Dodgers fell to the San Francisco Giants 8-5 on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, in a game devoid of the pitch-by-pitch excitement of the Clayton Kershaw vs. Tim Lincecum duel of the night before. However, Matt Kemp did provide the home crowd with a delight, furthering his own case for National League MVP.
Kemp hit a long home run into the pavilion in left center field in the fifth inning, a three-run shot off Ryan Vogelsong. It was the 35th home run on the year for Kemp, making him the 14th player in MLB history to have 35 home runs and 35 stolen bases in the same season.
Kemp now has a National League-leading 116 RBI on the season, the sixth highest RBI total in Los Angeles Dodgers history.
Dana Eveland took the loss, allowing five runs in four innings in his fourth start as a Dodger. The Giants were up 5-0 early, then saw Kemp cut their lead to 5-4 in the fifth inning. But San Francisco tacked on one run in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh.
A pair of Dodgers rookies extended their hitting streaks on Wednesday. Jerry Sands singled in the eighth inning, pushing his hitting streak to nine games, and he has 17 hits in his last 34 at-bats. Dee Gordon's streak is now at eight games, thanks to two singles, a stolen base, and a run scored tonight for the shortstop.
Hiroki Kuroda starts on Thursday for the Dodgers in their final home game of the season. Madison Bumgarner starts for San Francisco.
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