By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trayce Thompson drove in two runs and thrilled his older brother, Klay, with an RBI double during the decisive rally in the seventh while the Los Angeles Dodgers surged past the San Francisco Giants 7-4 Sunday for their season-high eighth consecutive victory.
Unlikely cleanup hitter Jake Lamb delivered a tiebreaking RBI double during that three-run rally by the NL-leading Dodgers, who have 15 victories in 16 games overall. Los Angeles swept a four-game series with the Giants at Chavez Ravine for the first time since 1995 and only the third time in the archrivals’ long history.
Gavin Lux also drove in two runs as Los Angeles’ offense overcame a mediocre start by Clayton Kershaw to earn the club’s 11th consecutive victory at Dodger Stadium. After Lux’s RBI single drove in Lamb in the seventh, Trayce Thompson’s drive to the right-center gap scored Max Muncy and pumped up Klay Thompson, the Golden State Warriors star, in his seat right behind the Giants’ dugout.
Freddie Freeman, Lux and Thompson had early RBI singles for LA, and Muncy added a run-scoring double. Evan Phillips (5-3) pitched the seventh for the Dodgers, who got 4 2/3 innings of scoreless, two-hit relief culminating in Craig Kimbrel’s 17th save.
Darin Ruf hit a tying two-run homer in the fifth and Thairo Estrada had a two-run single for the Giants, who got swept at Chavez Ravine by a combined 25-13.
Alex Cobb yielded eight hits and four runs while pitching into the sixth for San Francisco. He is winless in nine starts since May 17.
Journeyman backup Lamb doubled twice while batting cleanup for LA for the first time, and he came through against Tyler Rogers in the seventh.
After Freeman got a one-out double off Dominic Leone (3-3) when Yermín Mercedes couldn’t make a tough catch on his tailing fly ball, Lamb’s drive to right bounced into the short porch.
Kershaw yielded five hits and four runs while failing to get through the fifth inning for the Dodgers in his first appearance since throwing a scoreless inning in his first career All-Star Game start at home last Tuesday.
The nine-time All-Star selection took a perfect game into the eighth inning of his previous start in Anaheim last weekend, but Ruf’s two-run shot chased him after 94 pitches and six strikeouts. Kershaw dropped to one knee while the homer soared toward LA’s bullpen, lamenting his hung slider.
After Mookie Betts singled on Cobb’s first pitch, Trea Turner extended his hitting streak to 11 games and Freeman stretched his streak to 12 games with two more singles to score Betts. The Dodgers got four consecutive two-out hits in a three-run rally in the third.
BROS BEING BROS
Klay Thompson cheered wildly for his brother and the Dodgers throughout the game despite his proximity to his fellow Bay Area pro athletes. The four-time NBA champion also chugged a beer for his Instagram followers during the sixth inning. The sons of Lakers broadcaster Mychal Thompson grew up in Orange County.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: 3B Evan Longoria went on the injured list for the third time this season. The 36-year-old veteran strained his right hamstring while running out a grounder Saturday. He will have an MRI exam Monday. David Villar started at third base and went 0 for 4.
Dodgers: Andrew Heaney is likely to return to the rotation Wednesday against Washington, manager Dave Roberts said. In his first season with the Dodgers, the longtime Angels left-hander has appeared in only three games — just one since April 17 — due to shoulder woes. Roberts is going temporarily to a six-man rotation during a stretch of 18 consecutive days with games.
UP NEXT
Giants: Jakob Junis (4-1, 3.06 ERA) takes the mound in Arizona on Monday for the opener of a three-game series.
Dodgers: Tony Gonsolin (11-0, 2.02) returns from his All-Star Game loss on the Dodger Stadium mound Monday to open a three-game series against the Nationals and All-Star outfielder Juan Soto, who was serenaded with chants of “Future Dodger!” during the Midsummer Classic.
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