Clayton Kershaw is just sharp enough to beat the Braves

There was plenty of evidence, some of it downright peculiar, that Clayton Kershaw was not his usual dominating self against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

First was his second-inning balk on a pickoff attempt that led to an animated argument between Kershaw and first base umpire Joe West. Next was a leadoff walk to Daniel Castro in the third, only the sixth walk issued by Kershaw in 92 2/3 innings.

Kershaw hit Atlanta right-hander Bud Norris with a pitch in the left shoulder to start the sixth inning, the first time in his nine-year career he has hit an opposing pitcher with a pitch.

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And by the time he departed, Kershaw had thrown 96 pitches in six innings, hardly a model of efficiency, and struck out just four, a season low.

No matter. Kershaw still blanked the hapless Braves on three hits in his shortest start of the season, and relievers Joe Blanton, Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen closed out the Braves to secure a 4-0 victory in Dodger Stadium.

Kershaw was clearly not at his best, but he didn’t have to be against a Braves offense that entered Saturday ranked dead last in the major leagues in runs (168), average (.226), home runs (22) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.605).

The left-hander struck out Adonis Garcia on a slider with a runner on third to end the second. With a runner on third and two outs in the third, Kershaw fielded Chase d’Arnaud’s tapper near the third base line, spun and fired high but not too high to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez just in time to nail D’Arnaud.

“That,” Vin Scully said on the Dodgers broadcast, “was the best fastball he’s thrown tonight.”

Third baseman Justin Turner helped keep the Braves off the board in the fourth and fifth innings, ranging to his left to field Nick Markakis’ grounder and start an inning-ending double play in the fourth and diving to his left for Tyler Flowers’ fifth-inning grounder and throwing to first for the out.

The Braves put two on with one out in the sixth when Kershaw hit Norris with a pitch and d’Arnaud reached on a one-out infield single. Freddie Freeman flied to left, and Kershaw buckled the knees of Jeff Francoeur with an 0-and-2 curve that was called a ball by Kerwin Danley.

Kershaw seemed perturbed and threw three straight balls, two in the dirt, before Francoeur ripped a one-hop shot to shortstop Corey Seager, who threw to first for the out.

Kershaw’s ability to wiggle out of jams helped him improve to 8-1 with a major league-low 1.46 earned-run average on the season and 6-0 with an 0.81 ERA in seven starts since the beginning of May, a stretch in which he has allowed five earned runs in 552/3 innings, struck out 69 and walked three.

Kershaw also sparked the Dodgers’ run-scoring rally in the third with a one-out infield single. Chase Utley flied to center and Seager walked. Turner lined a single to center that scored Kershaw for a 1-0 lead.

Catcher A.J. Ellis threw out the speedy Ender Inciarte attempting to steal second in the eighth, and the Dodgers tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth.

Turner doubled to right-center off reliever Alexi Ogando and took third on Gonzalez’s grounder to first. Trayce Thompson fouled off three full-count pitches before drawing a walk.

Braves left-hander Ian Krol came on to face Joc Pederson, who snapped an 0-for-20 skid with a second-inning double. Pederson pushed a bunt single to the right side to score Turner for a 2-0 lead.

Thompson and Pederson pulled off a double steal. Howie Kendrick was walked intentionally to load the bases. Right-hander John Gant came on to face Ellis, who hit a sacrifice fly to left for a 3-0 lead. Pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal’s bloop single to left made it 4-0.

Follow Mike DiGiovanna on Twitter @MikeDiGiovanna