a 5.24 ERA in his last eight starts since bea

LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw outpitched a familiar foe for his first win in more than a month. Kershaw was a bit better than Tim Lincecum in the seventh regular-season matchup between former Cy Young Award winners, rookie Yasiel Puig had three more hits and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Wednesday night for a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champions. "I had better fastball command tonight than I had in the past," Kershaw said after his first victory in seven starts since May 20. "There were a few three- or four-pitch sequences there where there was a lapse. So theres some little things to work on here and there. But overall, it was better tonight for sure." Kershaw (6-5) allowed two runs and four hits in eight-plus innings and had seven strikeouts against an offence that totalled just 14 runs over its previous six games while going 8 for 47 with runners in scoring position. The Giants only runs came in the fourth on Buster Poseys 10th homer and second in two games, following a 14-game drought. The left-hander, who led the NL in ERA each of the previous two seasons, has a 2.06 mark through his first 17 starts -- tying Pittsburghs Jeff Locke for second place, .01 behind the Mets Matt Harvey. When Kershaw won his Cy Young Award in 2011, he was 5-0 with a 1.07 ERA in six starts against the Giants that season -- and four of those victories came in games that Lincecum was the opposing pitcher. "Hopefully we keep pitching against each other for a long time," Kershaw said. "But its not a matter of facing him, but facing the eight other guys. And Im sure hed say the same thing." Kenley Jansen got three outs for his sixth save in eight attempts after Kershaw gave up a leadoff single in the ninth by Marco Scutaro. The right-hander retired pinch-hitter Brandon Belt on a broken-bat popup with runners at first and second to end it -- opponents are 0 for 32 against him with men in scoring position. "He came up with the tying run at the plate and went right through the heart of the order," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said, "so that was a big test for him." Lincecum (4-8) gave up four runs and 10 hits in 5 1-3 innings and struck out four. The two-time Cy Young winner is 1-7 with a 5.24 ERA in his last eight starts since beating Atlanta 5-1 on May 12 with seven innings of two-hit ball. The Giants have scored fewer than three runs in six of Lincecums last eight outings. "You kind of look forward to it, just because it make you rise to the occasion and pitch better," Lincecum said of facing Kershaw. "I was more intent on being aggressive, but I just didnt put pitches where I needed to and when I should have." The Giants have lost four in a row and nine of 12, putting them a season-worst two games under .500 and dropping them into fourth place in the NL West. They are 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers got the jump on Lincecum with an RBI single in the third inning by Hanley Ramirez. But the Giants, who came in batting a league-best .285 against left-handed starters, responded in the fourth with Poseys 10th home run after a leadoff walk to Scutaro. It was first homer by last years NL MVP in his first 40 career at-bats against Kershaw, and snapped a stretch of 30 consecutive innings in which the Giants hadnt held a lead. "You cant walk Scutaro leading off that inning, especially after we just got a run," Kershaw said. "I mean, Poseys going to hit homers -- thats what he does -- but it should have been a solo homer." That lead evaporated in the sixth, when the Dodgers pulled ahead to stay. Andre Ethier delivered the tying run with an RBI single and Ellis followed with a run-scoring double into the left field corner. Juan Uribe got an infield hit and Lincecum ended his night with a wild pitch to Skip Schumaker that allowed Ellis to score. Lincecum got a break in the fifth on another overaggressive rookie mistake by Puig, who tried to stretch a two-out single into a double and was easily thrown out by left fielder Andres Torres. This was Puigs 13th multihit game and sixth with three hits since his big league debut June 3. He is batting. 435 in his first 22 contests. NOTES: Dodgers CF Matt Kemp, who made a circus catch in the warning track to rob Scutaro of extra bases for the final out on Tuesday night in his first game off the disabled list, was not in the starting lineup but came in for defence on a double-switch in the ninth. ... Lincecum is 0-5 in six road starts since beating the Dodgers 5-3 on April 3 in his season debut. Barry Zito, 0-4 with an 11.28 ERA on the road, takes the ball for the opener of the Giants three-game series at Colorado on Friday night. ... Kershaw has held the Giants to fewer than three runs in 17 of his l9 starts against them. ... The Giants were swept in a three-game set at Dodger Stadium for the first time since April 2009. Spencer Pulley Jersey . Heck, we might just miss the BCS. Maybe? It sort of worked out this season. Top-ranked Florida State (13-0) was the only team to get through the regular season unbeaten, and the Seminoles did it in dominating fashion. Rayshawn Jenkins Jersey . Thats the feeling that eight Canadian Football League teams are experiencing right now in advance of the expansion draft to stock the Ottawa Redblacks. http://www.chargersauthenticshop.com/Cha...u-Draft-Jersey/. -- So much for concern that running back Marshawn Lynch would be absent from the Seattle Seahawks minicamp. Desmond King Jersey . Marcus Olsson, 23, joins Blackburn on a free transfer from Swedens Halmstads. He made 139 appearances and scored 17 goals in his four years with the club. He earned his first caps for Sweden this month, featuring against Bahrain and Qatar. Melvin Gordon Jersey . It will then be back to business once the puck drops as the two clubs battle for key points in their respective playoff races. Watch the game live on TSN Canadiens and listen on TSN Radio 690 starting at 7:30pm et.ROME - Juventus aims to bounce back from a loss to Napoli in the Italian Super Cup when it hosts Inter Milan on Tuesday as Serie A resumes with a full slate of matches after a holiday break.Juventus holds a three-point lead over Roma and has lost only once in the Italian league — to Genoa in October — but struggled at times in a shootout loss to Napoli in Doha, Qatar, on Dec. 23.The squad is energized again after the vacation, which we needed after five months at high intensity, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said Monday. Its going to be a difficult match with Inter as its the first one of the year and that makes it dangerous. Just look at what happened yesterday to Real Madrid with Valencia.In other matches, Roma visits mid-table Udinese, Napoli looks to build on the Juve win at struggling Cesena, and AC Milan hosts Sassuolo.___DERBY DITALIA: When Juventus and Inter play, its called the derby dItalia — Italys derby — as its a matchup between two of the clubs with the most fans in the country.This season, its also a matchup between two of the leagues leading scorers: Carlos Tevez tops the scoring chart with 10 goals for Juventus, while Mauro Icardi is tied for second on the list with eight for Inter.Inter is the only big Italian club that Tevez has not scored against since joining Juve last season. Fellow Argentine Icardi scored twice against Juve in a 2-1 win while with Sampdoria two years ago in the first match after the winter break.Inter has made progress recently and rediscovered its confidence. The team that pays more attention and is more focused will win, Allegri said. Its not a physical or technical matter, its a mental thing.___SCORING HELP: With Inter in 11th place, 18 points behind Juventus, new coach Roberto Mancini has been looking for a striker to share goal scoring duties with Icardi and he may have foundd his man in Lukas Podolski.ddddddddddddThe 29-year-old forward has already joined Inter while finalizing a transfer from Arsenal. Having scored 47 goals in 121 appearances for Germany, he has the pedigree to satisfy Mancini.We needed two wingers and Podolski is one of them, Mancini said Monday. He has a lot of experience and I hope he can give us a big hand.Inter is also reportedly interested in signing Ezequiel Lavezzi from Paris Saint-Germain or Xherdan Shaqiri from Bayern Munich. Mancini indicated, however, that it would be difficult to sign either player.___JUVES NEEDS: Wesley Sneijder helped Inter win a treble of titles under Jose Mourinho in 2010 and is now being courted by Juventus.Its no secret that were looking for a playmaker and a defender, Allegri said. Sneijder has great technical qualities. He would help complete an area of midfield that is already very strong and that would create competition.Sneijder currently plays for Galatasaray, already eliminated from the Champions League.Juve is also looking for help in defence. Center back Andrea Barzagli has missed the entire season thus far following right foot surgery in July. The Italy international is slated to miss at least another month.___438 GOALS: Francesco Totti and Antonio Di Natale have scored a total of 438 goals between them in Serie A and will go head-to-head Tuesday in an attractive matchup of the leagues two top active scorers.The 38-year-old Totti is second all-time with 237 goals in 571 appearances and the 37-year-old Di Natale is seventh on the list with 201 in 404 matches.Silvio Piola, who won the 1938 World Cup with Italy, has the record of 274 goals.Were fighting for the title and the difference with last year is that we have to win something, said Roma coach Rudi Garcia.___Andrew Dampf can be followed at www.twitter.com/asdampf Cheap Barcelona Jerseys Cheap Real Madrid Jerseys Authentic Cheap Bayern Munich Jerseys Cheap Dortmund Jerseys Cheap USA Jerseys Cheap USWNT Jerseys France Soccer Jerseys Soccer Mexico Jerseys Cheap Germany Jerseys Cheap Belgium Soccer Jerseys Brazil Jerseys From China Germany Jerseys From China Authentic Soccer Mexico Jerseys Cheap Portugal Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Spain Jerseys Cheap France Football Jerseys Cheap Germany Jerseys Authentic Cheap Mexico Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Colombia Jerseys Cheap Belgium Football Jerseys Wholesale Argentina Jerseys Cheap USA Soccer Jerseys China cheap uswnt jersey authentic Authentic AC Milan Jerseys Discount Arsenal Jerseys Wholesale A.S. 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