By Jeremy Harness

The Giants played three tough games inside Dodger Stadium and performed as well as could be expected with the lineup that is noticeably decimated at this point, but they nonetheless came up empty-handed.

Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers’ star left-hander, slammed the door emphatically on the Giants Wednesday night in a complete game 2-1 win over the Giants, completing a three-game sweep.

Kershaw was flat-out dominant in striking out 15 hitters and walking only one while giving up only six hits.

However, as great as Kershaw was, the Giants actually had a chance to at least tie the game in the ninth inning. Down to their final strike with no one on, Matt Duffy lined a single to left, and Buster Posey, facing the exact same situation, followed that up with a single of his own.

Marlon Byrd, who has filled in brilliantly for an injured Hunter Pence, could not bring that much-needed run in as he struck out on a pitch in the dirt to send the Giants on their way to Denver and trailing the Dodgers by 6 ½ games in the National League West.

The frustration seemed to boil over in the eighth inning, as manager Bruce Bochy was ejected for the second game in a row, this time for arguing a ruling that Brandon Belt had went around on pitch in the dirt.

All was not lost, however. Even though he was clearly overshadowed by Kershaw, starter Mike Leake was brilliant himself in going seven strong innings and only giving up a pair of runs on five hits. However, the big blow was a mistake pitch that Leake threw to Chase Utley in the sixth, and the second baseman sent it over the wall in right-center to give the Dodgers the one-run lead.

On the injury front, while second baseman Joe Panik started a rehab stint in Triple-A Sacramento Wednesday and is expected back in the lineup next week, there is no timetable on the return of Pence at press time.