LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw allowed one hit and struck out 11 in eight innings against his October nemesis, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 Saturday night with a big swing from Yasiel Puig in his return from the disabled list.

Puig snapped a scoreless tie in the seventh with an RBI double after missing the previous 39 games because of a strained left hamstring.

Kershaw (5-3) outpitched Jaime Garcia and lowered his ERA to 3.36. The left-hander led the majors in that category each of the past four seasons.

Kershaw lost to St. Louis in the finale of the 2013 NL Championship Series and the final game of the 2014 Division Series, making him 0-4 with a 7.15 ERA in his last four playoff starts against the Cardinals.

During the regular season, he is 6-5 with a 3.18 ERA in 15 starts against them.

The reigning NL MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner set down Mark Reynolds, Yadier Molina, Pete Kozma and Peter Bourjos on called third strikes in a span of five batters during the second and third.

Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save in as many chances. It was his first appearance since sitting out Wednesday’s game at Colorado because of high blood pressure caused by the altitude in Denver.

Kershaw threw 75 of 106 pitches for strikes, but one of his fastballs hit Matt Carpenter on the right triceps in the first inning. The Cardinals’ third baseman played three innings in the field and struck out in the fourth before coming out of the game. In Game 1 of last year’s Division Series, Carpenter homered and hit a three-run double against Kershaw.

Garcia (1-3) allowed two runs and six hits over seven innings, struck out six and walked none in his fourth start of the season after missing the first 40 games while recovering from thoracic outlet surgery. The Cardinals have been shut out in three of his outings.

Garcia gave up three singles through the first six innings, and two of those runners were erased on double-play grounders by Chris Heisey and Jimmy Rollins, who has two RBI in his last 74 at-bats. But Heisey led off the seventh with a double and scored on Puig’s opposite-field hit to the fence in right-center. Justin Turner drove in Puig with a single that deflected off Kozma’s glove at second base and into short center field.

Cardinals pitchers have allowed 10 runs in their last seven games, including 7-1 and 2-1 victories in the first two games of this four-game series.

Puig was 1 for 3 with two strikeouts. He made two rehab appearances with Class A Rancho Cucamonga on May 7-8 before reinjuring his hamstring, then resumed his assignment with the Quakes on Thursday and was 3 for 7 with a double and a home run in two games.

CATCHING UP WITH KERSHAW

A.J. Ellis started behind the plate for the 18th time this season and ninth with Kershaw on the mound. Kershaw is 2/3 with a 3.43 ERA when Ellis is the starting catcher, and 2-0 with a 3.15 ERA in three starts with Yasmani Grandal as his batterymate.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (4-4) is 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA in his last five starts. He has yet to allow a home run in 26 career innings against the Dodgers, going 3-1 with a 4.50 ERA and 32 strikeouts in five starts.

Dodgers: RHP Zack Greinke (5-1) will try to bounce back from an ugly start at Colorado last Tuesday in which he gave up five runs and 10 hits in six innings and ended up with a no-decision. Prior to that, he yielded fewer than two runs in five consecutive outings, but was just 1-1 during that stretch.

— Associated Press —

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Carlos Martinez outpitched Brett Anderson again during their second low-scoring duel in six days, and the St. Louis Cardinals scratched across a pair of runs in the eighth inning to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Friday night.

Martinez (6-2) allowed his only run in the second on a bases-loaded walk to power-hitting rookie Joc Pederson. The right-hander gave up three hits and had a career-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings while helping the Cardinals lower their major league-best ERA to 2.57.

Last Sunday, Martinez held the Dodgers to one hit over seven innings and struck out eight in a 3-1 victory over Anderson, which followed an emotional pregame tribute to Martinez’s late teammate and best friend Oscar Taveras, who was killed in a car accident in October.

Anderson (2-4) allowed two runs and four hits in 7 2/3 innings. The Cardinals, with the best record in the majors at 37-18, were held to a pair of harmless singles over the first seven innings and failed to get a runner in scoring position until everything unraveled for Anderson in the eighth.

Yadier Molina drew a leadoff walk, Jason Heyward followed with an infield single up the middle and Tony Cruz advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt while batting for Martinez.

Kolten Wong was credited with a tying RBI single that scored pinch-runner Pete Kozma when Anderson failed to cover first base on a grounder to Adrian Gonzalez wide of the bag. Carpenter drove in Hayward with a sacrifice fly on Anderson’s 88th and final pitch.

Trevor Rosenthal, the fourth St. Louis pitcher, got three outs for his 18th save in 19 attempts to secure the Cardinals’ fourth straight win and 10th in 12 games.

Martinez, who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous three starts spanning 20 1/3 innings, gave up two walks and two singles in the second when the Dodgers scored their run. After the walk to Pederson, Martinez minimized the damage by retiring Jimmy Rollins on a double-play grounder — two pitches after getting a visit from pitching coach Derek Lilliquist.

The Dodgers did not get another baserunner until Gonzalez drew a leadoff walk in the sixth. Martinez struck out the next three batters.

NEW ADDITION

Scott Schebler, promoted earlier in the day from Triple-A Oklahoma City, started in left field for the Dodgers and went 1 for 3 in his major league debut — including an opposite-field single to left his first time up.

Schebler was a 26th-round draft pick in 2012 and was selected the organization’s minor league player of the year in 2013 after batting .296 with 27 homers and 91 RBI for Class A Rancho Cucamonga. Relief pitcher Daniel Coulombe was optioned to Oklahoma City to open a roster spot for him.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham (left quadriceps) was activated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Memphis. 1B Matt Adams (right quadriceps strain) was transferred from the 15-day DL to the 60-day list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Dodgers: 2B Howie Kendrick missed his second straight game because of a sprained right knee. … RHP Pedro Baez, who hasn’t pitched since May 13 because of a strain in his right pectoral muscle, threw off a mound for the first time and didn’t experience any pain. … RHP Brandon League (shoulder impingement) and RHP Brandon Beachy (elbow surgery) are still in the bullpen-session stage. Neither has been scheduled for a minor league rehab assignment.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (1-2) will make his fourth start of the season after missing the first 40 games while recovering from thoracic outlet surgery.

Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (4-3) lost to St. Louis in the final game of the 2013 NL Championship Series and the final game of the 2014 Division Series. During the regular season, the reigning NL MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner is 5-5 with a 3.46 ERA in 14 starts against the Cardinals.

— Associated Press —

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Wacha pitched seven effective innings, Jason Heyward and Kolten Wong drove in two runs each, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-1 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series between the National League’s top two teams.

The Cardinals, who knocked the Dodgers out of the playoffs in each of the previous two seasons, increased their Central Division lead to 6 1-2 games over the idle Pittsburgh Pirates while the Dodgers’ West Division advantage shrunk to 1 1-2 games over the idle San Francisco Giants.

Wacha (8-1) allowed a run and seven hits without walking a batter and had five strikeouts, five days after the Dodgers beat him 5-1 at St. Louis in a game that was delayed more than 2 hours by rain. This was the right-hander’s first road start against the Dodgers, whom he defeated twice in the 2013 NL championship series while shutting them out in 13 2/3 innings.

Wacha became the first Cardinal to begin a season 6-0 on the road since 2005, when Chris Carpenter won his first 12 decisions away from Busch Stadium and Matt Morris his first six.

Right-hander Carlos Frias (4-3) was charged with five runs — three earned — and 10 hits through 6 2/3 innings in his rematch with Wacha.

St. Louis opened the scoring in the third with two unearned runs. Jhonny Peralta and Mark Reynolds had RBI singles after a two-out fielding error by third baseman Justin Turner on Matt Carpenter’s grounder in the hole and Matt Holliday’s single. The Cardinals increased the margin to 5-0 in the fifth on Holliday’s sacrifice fly and Jason Heyward’s two-out, two-run single.

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the sixth with one-out singles by Adrian Gonzalez, Turner and Andre Ethier. Alex Guerrero hit a sacrifice fly that got the Dodgers on the board, but Jimmy Rollins grounded out to second.

Rollins has been in the bottom third of the batting order the last six games he has started, going 5 for 20 with one RBI in those games after being dropped from the 2 hole. He began his first season with the Dodgers in the leadoff spot before he was replaced there by power-hitting rookie Joc Pederson.

Los Angeles got only one runner as far as second base during the first four innings. Pederson, who homered in each of his previous five games to give him 17 for the season, doubled to left field with two outs in the third and was stranded when Yasmani Grandal flied out. In the fifth, Pederson stranded two men in scoring position when he took a called third strike.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: Closer Kenley Jansen was cleared by the team’s medical staff to pitch, a day after the altitude in Denver caused high blood pressure, a headache and an upset stomach. … 2B Howie Kendrick was held out of the game because of a sore knee, which he hurt sliding into third base in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s game.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (5-2) hasn’t allowed a run in his last three starts, spanning 20 1/3 innings. Last Sunday he held the Dodgers to one hit over seven innings and struck out eight in a 3-1 victory, following an emotional pregame tribute to his late teammate and best friend Oscar Taveras, who was killed in a car accident in October.

Dodgers: LHP Brett Anderson (2-3) comes into his rematch with Martinez 0-2 with a 3.28 ERA over his last four starts. His last four starts at Dodger Stadium have resulted in no-decisions since his 5-2 win over Seattle on April 15.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals manager Mike Matheny likes what he sees from veteran pitcher John Lackey this season.

Lackey pitched seven strong innings and Matt Carpenter had two hits and drove in two runs, leading St. Louis to a 7-4 victory Wednesday over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The 36-year-old Lackey (4-3) has a 2.93 ERA. He scattered 10 hits Wednesday, allowing three runs while striking out five and walking one. He is 4-1 in four career starts against Milwaukee.

“John Lackey has been a front-line starter for a long time,” Matheny said.

Still, he added that “Lackey has absolutely been a surprise for us as far as how crisp his stuff has been and being able to eat up the kind of innings he has.”

He has thrown seven or more innings in six of 11 starts this season.

“Everything was working for him,” catcher Yadier Molina said. “He looked good on the hill.”

Lackey has gone 7-1 in 11 regular-season starts and one playoff outing at Busch Stadium since joining the Cardinals after a trade with Boston. He is 4-1 in six starts at home this season.

“It’s a nice place to pitch, for sure,” Lackey said. “It’s a pretty big yard. It’s a fun place to pitch with the atmosphere, and we seem to swing the bats pretty well here, too.”

Trevor Rosenthal recorded his 17th save by getting the final two outs on a double play.

Milwaukee’s Jimmy Nelson (2-6) lasted five innings, giving up seven hits and seven runs (six earned). Nelson has allowed 20 runs and 23 hits in 14 2/3 innings for a 10.43 ERA and has taken the loss in all four of his appearances — three starts — against St. Louis since last season.

The Cardinals improved the best home record in the majors to 22-7 and won all three series during their nine-game homestand.

St. Louis scored five runs in the first.

“It’s a great way to start your day,” Matheny said. “It gave John some room to work.”

Jhonny Peralta and Mark Reynolds had RBI singles, and a run scored when third baseman Hector Gomez couldn’t handle a grounder for an error.

Nelson didn’t record an out until his 23rd pitch and needed 29 pitches to get out of the inning.

“We had an opportunity to make that a couple-run inning, and we didn’t make plays,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said.

“We’ve got to make plays,” he added. “Those are outs. You can’t give the other team more outs. It’s tough to win like that.”

Gerardo Parra hit a solo homer, his first since May 15, in the third for the Brewers’ first run. Parra was 4 for 5.

Gomez left the game in the bottom of the sixth when he crashed into the seats behind third chasing a foul ball hit by Jason Heyward. He was examined by a physician for a possible concussion and the results were negative, a Brewers spokesman said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: OF Ryan Braun didn’t play Wednesday. He flew to Los Angeles to undergo a planned procedure called chryotherapy on a sore right thumb that stems from an injury at the end of last season. It is the second time he’s had the thumb treated. The Brewers are off Thursday before playing at Minnesota.

ROSTER MOVE

The Brewers optioned RHP Tyler Cravy to Triple-A Colorado Springs. Milwaukee recalled OF Shane Peterson from Colorado Springs. Peterson, who was drafted by the Cardinals in 2008, started in left field. It was his third game in the majors.

UP NEXT

Brewers: Kyle Lohse (3-6, 6.50 ERA) pitches Friday at Minnesota. Lohse will make his 12th start and has lost his last two. Opponents are hitting .284 with 13 homers against him.

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (7-1, 2.27 ERA) will be facing Los Angeles and making his first appearance at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers handed Wacha his first loss last Saturday. His seven wins are tops in the majors this season.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lance Lynn allowed five hits while pitching into the eighth inning and Mark Reynolds had an RBI single in the second for the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Tyler Cravy (0-1) made an impressive major debut for Milwaukee, allowing a run on four hits in seven innings.

The Brewers won the series opener 1-0 and Milwaukee pitchers had thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings before Reynolds’ RBI.

Lynn (4-4) struck out five and walked one in 7 2/3 innings.

Kevin Siegrist got the last out in the eighth and most of a sellout crowd of 42,835 stuck around to see Trevor Rosenthal earn his 16th save in 17 chances. The Cardinals are 6-2 with one game to go on the home stand.

Matt Holliday was ejected by plate umpire Joe West for arguing a called third strike in the seventh, ending his National League-record 45-game streak reaching base safely to start the season. Derek Jeter set the major league record with 53 in a row in 1999 for the Yankees.

Manager Mike Matheny, who had gone out to aid Holliday’s cause, also was ejected. That made a total of five ejections in the last five games at Busch.

The Cardinals entered averaging 2.82 runs run support in starts by Lynn (4-4), fourth lowest among National League pitchers. In 10 of the 11 starts, they totaled 22 runs.

Randal Grichuk doubled with one out in the second and scored easily on Reynolds’ two-out single. The Cardinals didn’t have a runner in scoring position the rest of the way, and grounded into double plays in the third, fourth and fifth.

The Brewers had three runners in scoring position, the last time when Aramis Ramirez grounded into a game-ending double play. Ryan Braun fanned with two on to end the sixth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: OF Khris Davis underwent surgery to remove torn right meniscus and will be sidelined 4-6 weeks.

Cardinals: P Adam Wainwright, lost for the season with a torn left Achilles in April, has been at Busch during the home stand.

UP NEXT

Jimmy Nelson is 0-3 with a 10.24 ERA against St. Louis in three games. John Lackey is 5-1 with a 1.83 ERA at Busch in 10 starts and struck out nine in seven scoreless innings his last time out against the Dodgers.

NO DAMAGE

Three Brewers chased futilely for Matt Carpenter’s foul pop in the fourth and two of them — shortstop Jean Segura and third baseman Aramis Ramirez — tumbled into the stands. No one was injured.

— Associated Press —