NL West Watch: Dodgers Beat D'backs; Giants Five Back

BOX SCORE

LOS ANGELES -- Yasiel Puig homered and drove in another run, and Brock Stewart became the fourth consecutive rookie pitcher to win his start, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 on Wednesday night to win their fifth straight and complete a three-game sweep.

The NL West leaders increased their lead to a season-high five games over San Francisco, which lost 6-5 at Colorado.

The Dodgers open a 10-game road trip - longest of the season - on Friday against former manager Don Mattingly in Miami, where ace Clayton Kershaw is set to start after missing the last two months because of a herniated disk.

Stewart (1-2) allowed one run and five hits in five innings, struck out one and walked two. The Dodgers started four consecutive rookies for the second straight week while their battered rotation slowly comes back. Jose De Leon took the mound Sunday andKenta Maeda went Monday, followed by Ross Stripling on Tuesday. All four won.

Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 43rd save in 49 chances, leaving him one shy of his career-high set in 2014.

Puig homered with one out in the sixth, extending the Dodgers' lead to 3-1.

Los Angeles scored the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the first. Corey Seager doubled into the right field corner, bringing home Howie Kendrick who had walked and narrowly avoided getting tagged in a head-first slide at the plate. Puig's sacrifice fly scored Seager, making it 2-1.

Seager went 2 for 4 with two strikeouts.

Arizona's lone run came on Paul Goldschmidt's RBI double with two outs in the first. The D-backs were outscored 18-5 in the series.

Arizona's Robbie Ray (7-13) gave up three runs and two hits in six innings. The left-hander struck out 12 and walked four.

Clinging to a 3-1 lead, the Dodgers' bullpen squelched threats in the seventh and eighth innings.

The D-backs loaded the bases in the seventh. Reliever Jesse Chavez gave up consecutive singles to pinch-hitter Phil Gosselin and Jean Segura before retiring the next two batters. He intentionally walked Goldschmidt and then struck out pinch-hitter Rickie Weeks Jr. to end the inning.

In the eighth, Pedro Baez came on and struck out Yasmany Tomas and Chris Hermann before walking pinch-hitterMitch Haniger. He needed six pitches to retire Gosselin on a groundout to shortstop.

The Dodgers used eight pitchers, three of them facing just one batter each in the sixth.

TRAINER'S ROOM:
D-backs: C Welington Castillo was scratched shortly before the game and replaced by Chris Hermann.

Dodgers: LHP Scott Kazmir experienced a setback in his rehab start at Triple-A Oklahoma City and left early with neck and ribcage issues. He will return to Los Angeles for further evaluation. He tossed 33 pitches and gave up a three-run homer, walked two and hit two batters.

UP NEXT:
D-backs: RHP Braden Shipley (3-3, 4.94) starts the opener of a three-game home series against San Francisco. He is 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA in four starts when throwing six-plus innings.

Dodgers: Kershaw (11-2, 1.79) starts Friday for the first time since June 26 after missing two months with mild disk herniation. He allowed a season-high five runs and seven hits in seven innings against Miami at home on April 26 in a 6-3 loss. He struck out 10 and didn't issue a walk. Kershaw is 5-3 with a 2.40 ERA in 10 career starts against the Marlins.

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