2011 Los Angeles Dodgers season

[8] At the conclusion of the 2010 season, Rod Barajas, Hiroki Kuroda, Vicente Padilla, Jay Gibbons, Reed Johnson and Jeff Weaver all became free agents.

[28] The Dodgers pitching depth took a major hit when Vicente Padilla underwent surgery to repair a radial nerve injury[29] and Jon Garland suffered a strained oblique muscle.

Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw outpitched Giants ace Tim Lincecum, striking out nine batters in seven shutout innings, as the Dodgers won 2–1.

[40] Matt Cain and three relievers combined to shut out the Dodgers 10–0 the following day, as Ted Lilly and Kenley Jansen each gave up four runs in the loss.

[41] A big seventh inning, including an RBI triple by Marcus Thames helped Hiroki Kuroda and the Dodgers take the series with a 7–5 victory in the finale.

[44] Tony Gwynn Jr. singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th as the Dodgers beat his former team, the San Diego Padres 4–2 to start their next series.

[72] The Dodgers dropped their third straight on the opener of a road series against the New York Mets, 6–3 as Jason Pridie hit a three-run homer off Kuorda with two outs in the sixth inning.

[84] The Dodgers finally won a game on May 18 as Kuroda and two relievers shut down the Brewers and Matt Kemp's two-run homer in the first provided just enough offense for a 3–0 victory.

[105] Matt Kemp finished a single away from the cycle, but the Dodgers pitching melted down, allowing five runs in the seventh inning to blow a five-run lead and lose 9–7 to the Colorado Rockies on June 9.

[106] Kemp didn't start the following day, but came off the bench to hit his league leading 19th homer to spark a five-run rally in the ninth, but the Dodgers still fell a bit short, losing to the Rockies 6–5.

[107] On June 11, Aaron Miles and Jamey Carroll combined to go 8 for 9 and Casey Blake had a three-run pinch double to spark the offense but it was spectacular defensive plays by Dee Gordon and Tony Gwynn Jr. that saved the game for a shaky bullpen as the Dodgers won 11–7.

[108] The Dodgers got the best of Ubaldo Jiménez in their second meeting with him, as James Loney hit a grand slam and Matt Kemp and Rod Barajas added solo blasts in the 10–8 win.

[109] The Dodgers returned home to play the Reds, dropping the opener 6–4 when Dee Gordon committed a costly error in the seventh inning with the game tied, leading to four runs scoring.

[110] The Dodgers wasted a fine start by Kershaw on June 15 as the Scott Elbert allowed a go-ahead eighth-inning single to Joey Votto and the Reds won 3–2.

[112] The slumping Dodgers were subsequently handled by Houston starter Brett Myers, who retired 17 consecutive batters at one point and made only 98 pitches in a 7–3 Astros win.

The game was doubly frustrating because starting catcher Rod Barajas suffered an ankle strain in the second inning and joined the multitude of Dodgers already on the disabled list.

[125]Clayton Kershaw struck out ten batters on July 2 but was also charged with a season-high seven runs, while Jered Weaver shut down the Dodgers for a 7–1 Angel win.

[127] One positive for the Dodgers amidst their increasingly forlorn season was when Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw were selected to represent the team at the All-Star Game.

[156] The Dodgers did make a move though, trading injury prone shortstop Rafael Furcal to the St. Louis Cardinals for minor league outfielder Alex Castellanos.

[158] Clayton Kershaw started August off on the right foot, pitching his fourth complete game of the season and picking up his league leading 13th win in the 6–2 road victory over the San Diego Padres.

[160] The news was not all good on the day however, as the team announced that rookie starter Rubby De La Rosa would have to undergo season ending Tommy John surgery.

[164] Cody Ransom hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to help the Diamondbacks avoid a sweep and snap Clayton Kershaw's five-game winning streak.

However, Chad Billingsley couldn't make it out of the fifth and Blake Hawksworth gave up a two-run homer to Ryan Howard as the Dodgers lost 9–8, to be swept by the Phillies and extend their losing streak to four games.

Chad Billingsley struck out 7 and only allowed 3 hits in 7 2/3 innings, but was victimized by two 2-run homers by Carlos González and Seth Smith and the Dodgers dropped the finale against the Rockies 5–3.

[186] The Dodgers short winning streak was snapped the next day as rookie starter Nathan Eovaldi allowed five runs to score in the top of the first, thanks in part to a defensive miscue by outfielder Trent Oeltjen.

[195] Hiroki Kuroda gave up three homers in the first inning and four in the game (2 of them to Mike Morse) as the Dodgers fell behind early and never recovered, losing to the Washington Nationals 7–2 on September 6.

[208] James Loney hit his first career pinch-hit home run, a three-run blast, in the sixth inning to lead the Dodgers to a 7–2 win over the Pirates the next day.

Kemp put the exclamation point on his MVP candidacy with a career-high three doubles and a two-run homer and Kuroda allowed only two runs on five hits in seven-plus innings.

[219] Hiroki Kuroda, in his final start of the season, pitched six shutout innings and the Dodgers scored five runs in the top of the 10th to lead 6–1 but, with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, reliever Blake Hawksworth loaded the bases.

[220] In the final game of the season, Matt Kemp hit his league leading 39th home run and Ted Lilly pitched seven scoreless innings.