Kershaw sharp in 2014 debut

CLAYTON KERSHAW pitched seven shutout innings in his first outing since Opening Day, and Hanley Ramirez and Drew Butera homered as the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Washington Nationals, 8-3, last night.

Kershaw (2-0) was stubborn in his return after missing 32 games, allowing nine hits but striking out nine without a walk.

The two-time NL Cy Young winner had been on the disabled list for the first time in his career, sidelined by a strained back muscle after winning March 22 in the major league opener in Australia.

The Dodgers kept outfielder Yasiel Puig out for the second straight game since he crashed into an outfield wall in the ninth inning Sunday at Miami.

Jayson Werth had four hits for the Nationals.

Blake Treinen (0-1), making his first major league start, allowed three unearned runs in five-plus innings.

Coming off a pair of minor league rehabilitation starts, Kershaw threw 89 pitches and worked out of a pair of jams.

Anthony Rendon and Werth singled to start the fourth, but Adam LaRoche popped out and Kershaw struck out Scott Hairston and Ian Desmond.

In the sixth, Rendon led off with a single, but Kershaw picked him off. Werth and LaRoche followed with singles before Kershaw again fanned Hairston and Desmond.

The 25-year-old Treinen was called up from Triple A Syracuse to make the start and matched Kershaw for five innings. He allowed seven hits and no walks, while striking out two.

In the sixth inning, however, he was part of his own undoing as the Dodgers loaded the bases on three balls that didn't leave the infield.

After Treinen misplayed Kershaw's leadoff grounder for an error, Dee Gordon's grounder to first base was bobbled by LaRoche, though the play was ruled a hit.

Carl Crawford followed with a dribbler up the first base line for a single and, with the bases loaded, Ramirez singled to right, scoring Kershaw and ending Treinen's night.

At Pittsburgh, Starling Marte was called out, then ruled safe on a replay review with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Pirates over San Francisco, 2-1, and ending the Giants' six-game winning streak.

It was 1-all when Marte tripled off the rightfield wall against Tim Hudson. Marte slid into third, got up and bolted home when the relay from second baseman Ehire Adrianza skipped by third baseman Pablo Sandoval.

Sandoval recovered to throw home and plate umpire Quinn Wolcott initially ruled Marte was tagged by San Francisco catcher Buster Posey. A brief review showed Marte's right hand touched the plate before Posey tagged his chest.

* At Atlanta, Justin Upton homered and scored the tiebreaking run on Chris Johnson's eighth-inning single, and the Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1, night to end their seven-game skid.

Braves righthander Gavin Floyd was impressive in his season debut, allowing one run on six hits in seven innings. Floyd made his first major league start since April 27, 2013, for the White Sox against Tampa Bay. He had season-ending Tommy John surgery 10 days later.

* At Miami, Henderson Alvarez pitched a six-hitter for his second shutout this season, and the Marlins won again at home, beating the New York Mets, 3-0. Miami improved to a major league-best 16-5 at Marlins Park, and is 7-1 on its current homestand with one game left.

* At Milwaukee, Aaron Hill hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning after Miguel Montero had a tying single, rallying the Arizona Diamondbacks past the Brewers, 7-5.

* At Cleveland, Josh Tomlin earned his first major league win since 2012, pitching into the seventh inning and leading the Indians past the Minnesota Twins, 4-2.

Tomlin (1-0) allowed one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings. He was called up from Triple A Columbus before the game after missing most of last year while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

* At Detroit, Miguel Cabrera homered for his first of four hits and four RBI, Robbie Ray gave up one run in his debut and the Tigers routed the Houston Astros, 11-4, for their season-high seventh straight win.

* At St. Petersburg, Fla, Ryan Flaherty and Nick Markakis both drove in a run after a 19-minute power-outage delay in the eighth inning and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-3.

* At Chicago, Gordon Beckham's tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning helped the visiting White Sox beat the Cubs, 5-1.

* At Boston, Grady Sizemore lined one off the Green Monster to score the game-winning run in the 12th inning and the Red Sox beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3.