Dodgers 5, Giants 1
Alex Castellanos and Juan Rivera homered while Clayton Kershaw tossed eight strong innings as host Los Angeles won the rubber match of the season-ending three-game series.
Kershaw (14-9) gave up one run on three hits for the Dodgers, who were eliminated from postseason contention on Tuesday. Kershaw finished the season as the National League leader in ERA (2.53) and WHIP (1.023) for the second straight year.
Ryan Vogelsong allowed an unearned run with seven strikeouts over five frames for the NL West-champion Giants, who lost their first road series of the second half. San Francisco will face the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Division Series beginning Saturday at AT&T Park.
Adrian Gonzalez snapped a 1-1 tie in the sixth with an RBI single off Clay Hensley (4-5). The Dodgers padded their lead in the eighth on Castellanos’ first major-league homer and Rivera’s two-run blast off Jean Machi.
Buster Posey claimed the first batting title by an NL catcher since 1942, finishing with a .336 average. Marco Scutaro went 1-for-3, giving him the longest active hitting streak in the majors at 20 games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Giants finished with 94 wins, which matches the seventh-best record in San Francisco history. … San Francisco won the season series 11-7. … Gonzalez went 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.