Bats can’t back Kershaw’s return in loss

MIAMI — The return of Clayton Kershaw lasted three innings on Friday night, and the Marlins were able to do enough early damage to give Jose Fernandez some breathing room. Fernandez did the rest, turning in arguably his best outing of the season.

In a matchup of aces, Fernandez posted a dominating performance, matching a career high with 14 strikeouts in seven shutout innings. He was backed by a J.T. Realmuto home run in the first inning as the Marlins beat the Dodgers, 4-1, at Marlins Park, snapping Los Angeles’ five-game winning streak.

Back from a herniated disk injury that had kept him out since June 26, Kershaw allowed a one-out home run to Realmuto on his sixth pitch of the first inning. Realmuto connected on a 2-1, 89.3-mph slider and drove it over the wall in left.

Yasmani Grandal homered to lead off the ninth inning against Fernando Rodney, snapping Miami’s string of 21 straight scoreless innings. A.J. Ramos entered with two on and no outs, and he collected the save, his 33rd.

The Marlins made Kershaw work, as the left-hander threw 66 pitches (46 strikes), allowing two runs. He did strike out five, and made Major League history by becoming the first pitcher ever to reach 150 strikeouts in a season with fewer than 10 walks. He has issued nine free passes, with none on Friday. Kershaw is now 11-3 in 2016, with two of his losses to Miami.

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