| SEASON | CAREER |
| W14 | 37 |
| L9 | 38 |
| G30 | 180 |
| IP184.2 | 679.0 |
| BB61 | 276 |
| SO151 | 506 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W13 | 60 |
| L9 | 37 |
| G32 | 150 |
| IP219.2 | 936.0 |
| BB60 | 338 |
| SO221 | 966 |
A late surge wasn't enough to get the Los Angeles Dodgers a playoff spot, taking most of the luster off Wednesday night's regular-season finale against the rival San Francisco Giants .
Los Angeles entered Tuesday trailing St. Louis by two games with as many to play for the NL's second wild card. Cincinnati beat St. Louis 3-1 earlier in the evening, but the Dodgers' 4-3 loss to the Giants officially eliminated them from postseason contention.
A.J. Ellis hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to pull Los Angeles within one, and it had the tying run on second base in the ninth before Ellis lined out to center.
"It doesn't feel that good right now," Ellis said.
The Dodgers (85-76) had won their previous six games to remain in contention for their first playoff berth since 2009, but they couldn't overcome St. Louis despite adding Hanley Ramirez , Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett to the roster after the All-Star break.
"Everything kind of comes to a screeching halt," manager Don Mattingly said. "To not have that opportunity to move forward is painful."
MVP candidate Buster Posey helped West champion San Francisco (94-67) dash its bitter rivals' playoff hopes by going 2 for 4 with a solo homer.
"We're not so much into knocking people out," manager Bruce Bochy said. "There's a lot of history between these two clubs. Both clubs have knocked each other out."
Posey is hitting .337 with 24 homers and 102 RBIs and is all but assured of becoming the first catcher to the win the NL batting title since Ernie Lombardi in 1942.
It's possible Posey will get the day off to rest up for the postseason, plus he's 6 for 31 (.194) lifetime off Clayton Kershaw , who will oppose Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong for the fourth time this season Wednesday.
Kershaw (13-9, 2.58 ERA) allowed two earned runs in 27 innings in September and appears likely to finish as the NL ERA leader for a second straight year. The reigning Cy Young Award winner struck out 10 in eight innings of Friday's 8-0 win over Colorado.
He's only 2-3 over his last seven starts despite a 1.47 ERA, a stretch which began when he gave up two runs and fanned 10 in eight innings of a 2-1 loss to San Francisco on Aug. 20.
The left-hander has a 1.74 ERA in four starts against the Giants this year but has lost three of them. He's 7-4 in 15 career starts versus San Francisco, receiving more than two runs of support only three times.
Vogelsong (14-9, 3.46) beat San Diego in each of his last two outings, allowing one run in six innings each time. The right-hander had gone 2-4 with a 10.31 ERA in his previous seven outings.
He's been solid versus the Dodgers this season, going 2-1 with a 0.89 ERA in three starts - opposing Kershaw in each outing.
Vogelsong gave up two runs - one earned - in six innings in the most recent matchup July 29, but Kershaw tossed a five-hitter in Los Angeles' 4-0 victory.
San Francisco has won six of the last eight meetings, including four of five at Chavez Ravine. The Giants lead this season series 10-7 and now look to record their most wins over the Dodgers in one year since going 13-6 in 2003.
@
AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPS
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Brandon Belt | 8 | .125 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .222 | .347 | .125 |
| Madison Bumgarner | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.000 | .500 |
| Emmanuel Burriss | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Melky Cabrera | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .000 |
| Matt Cain | 7 | .143 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .143 | .286 | .143 |
| Brandon Crawford | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Aubrey Huff | 19 | .263 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .263 | .631 | .368 |
| Tim Lincecum | 10 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Angel Pagan | 5 | .400 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .400 | .800 | .400 |
| Brett Pill | 6 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Buster Posey | 18 | .111 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .158 | .269 | .111 |
| Pablo Sandoval | 21 | .238 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | .304 | .590 | .286 |
| Nate Schierholtz | 6 | .333 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .429 | .929 | .500 |
| Ryan Theriot | 11 | .273 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .333 | .697 | .364 |
| Barry Zito | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Chad Billingsley | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .500 | .500 | .000 |
| Mark Ellis | 8 | .500 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .500 | 1.125 | .625 |
| A.J. Ellis | 6 | .167 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .167 | .334 | .167 |
| Andre Ethier | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Dee Gordon | 7 | .429 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .429 | .858 | .429 |
| Tony Gwynn Jr. | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jerry Hairston Jr. | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .000 |
| Aaron Harang | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Matt Kemp | 9 | .333 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .400 | 1.289 | .889 |
| Adam Kennedy | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| James Loney | 9 | .444 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1.167 | .667 |
| Juan Rivera | 11 | .455 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .455 | 1.000 | .545 |
| Justin Sellers | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Juan Uribe | 3 | .667 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .667 | 1.334 | .667 |
 San Francisco Giants |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 06, 2012 | Xavier Nady | Day-to-Day | Strained left hamstring |
| August 27, 2012 | Clay Hensley | 15-Day DL | Strained right groin |
| August 27, 2012 | Clay Hensley | 15-Day DL | Strained right groin |
| August 23, 2012 | Justin Christian | 15-Day DL | Sprained left wrist |
| August 23, 2012 | Justin Christian | 15-Day DL | Sprained left wrist |
| August 22, 2012 | Buster Posey | Day-to-Day | Hamstring tightness |
 Los Angeles Dodgers |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 15, 2012 | Clayton Kershaw | Day-to-Day | Torn labrum, right hip |
| September 09, 2012 | Clayton Kershaw | Day-to-Day | Sore hip |
| September 08, 2012 | Adam Kennedy | 60-Day DL | Strained right groin |
| September 08, 2012 | Matt Kemp | Day-to-Day | Left shoulder strain |
| September 08, 2012 | Adam Kennedy | Day-to-Day | Strained right groin |
| September 03, 2012 | Javy Guerra | 15-Day DL | Left oblique strain |
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- With nothing at stake in the last game of the season, many teams' aces would take the day off. Not Clayton Kershaw .
The left-hander finished with a major league-leading 2.53 ERA, Adrian Gonzalez singled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-1 on Wednesday, a day after being eliminated from playoff contention for the third straight year by the NL West champions.
"He's as good as anybody in the game," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "He loves pitching."
Kershaw (14-9) allowed one run and three hits in eight innings, struck out eight and walked three in his 33rd start, tying a career high.
He assessed his season as "all right."
"If we make the playoffs next season it will be a great year," Kershaw said. "Not making the postseason, that's kind of what we play for."
The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner recorded 229 strikeouts, one behind NL leader R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets . The left-hander became the first pitcher to lead the league in ERA in consecutive seasons since Arizona's Randy Johnson in 2001-02.
Kershaw became the first Dodgers pitcher to do so since Sandy Koufax accomplished the feat from 1962-66.
"I don't care," he said about his ERA crown. "It was fun to get a win and hopefully build off these last nine games."
Dodgers slugger Matt Kemp struck out twice to end the season 0 for 10 with seven strikeouts in the three-game series, which the Dodgers won, 2-1, giving them four straight series victories for the first time this season.
Afterward, Kemp announced he will have left shoulder surgery Friday. He has a torn labrum.
"They're going to see what's going on inside of there and hopefully just clean it up," the right-handed hitter said. "If they need to do more, they'll do more, but I won't know anything until I wake up."
Gonzalez finished on a 15-game hitting streak, longest on the team he joined from Boston on Aug. 25. He drove in Andre Ethier , who doubled, with two outs to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. They tied the game 1-1 on Kershaw's RBI single in the fifth - the Dodgers' first hit off Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong , who also retired his first 10 batters.
"Kept me about .200 for the year," said a smiling Kershaw, who actually hit .207. "It was a big hit."
Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 32 chances.
Clay Hensley (4-5) gave up one run and two hits in one inning to take the loss for the Giants, who open the NL division series on Saturday against Cincinnati.
Giants catcher Buster Posey went 0 for 2, finishing the regular season with a .336 average to claim the NL batting title. He's the first Giants player to win it since Barry Bonds in 2004 and the first Giants catcher to do so. The previous catcher to win the NL title was Boston's Ernie Lombardi , who hit .330 in 1942.
"I don't think it's something that you ever think about doing," Posey said. "It's such a long season, and from day one, you try to grind out at-bats no matter what the situation is. And if you can go up there and are able to make some adjustments, good things will happen."
The Dodgers made it 5-1 in the eighth on homers by Alex Castellanos and Juan Rivera , who had a two-run shot.
San Francisco led 1-0 in the fourth on Posey's RBI groundout to shortstop, scoring Marco Scutaro , who singled to extend his hitting streak to 20 games.
Vogelsong allowed one run on two hits in five innings, struck out seven and walked one.
NOTES: The Giants will start RHP Matt Cain in the opener of the NL division series against Cincinnati on Saturday, and LHP Madison Bumgarner in Game 2 on Sunday. ... Scutaro joined 3B Pablo Sandoval and CF Angel Pagan as the first trio of Giants with 20-plus-game hitting streaks in a season since 1918. ... Dodgers manager Don Mattingly used his everyday lineup with one exception. C A.J. Ellis got the day off and was replaced by rookie Tim Federowicz . ... Ellis finished his first full season in the major leagues with a .270 average, 13 home runs and 52 RBIs. ... The Dodgers' season attendance of 3,324,246 was third-best in the NL. ... Dodgers organist Nancy Bea Hefley signed a three-year contract extension. ... Wednesday marked the 61st anniversary of Bobby Thomson 's pennant-clinching home run off Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca , known as the "Shot heard `round the world."
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San Francisco Giants
