Clayton Kershaw melts in St. Louis heat as Dodgers fall, 8-2

Clayton Kershaw wasn’t allowed to walk off the mound, he was poured off. If he was drenched in any more sweat, he would have needed chlorine. He looked like the Wicked Witch of the West after the bucket of water, needing only to cry, “I’m melting!”

Kershaw had breezed through the first 4 2/3 innings and led 2-0, when the 103-degree heat appeared to take him out at the knees.

He gave up a pair of two-out runs in the fifth and then could do almost nothing right in the sixth, allowing six more runs Tuesday in the Dodgers’ 8-2 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Kershaw was charged with eight earned runs, the second-most in his five-year career, and most since he allowed nine in Colorado on April 26, 2009.

The Dodgers had scored a pair of runs off Adam Wainwright in the fourth on a walk to Andre Ethier, a single by James Loney, a run-scoring ground-rule double by Juan Rivera and an RBI single by Luis Cruz.

And the way Kershaw was breezing early, it briefly appeared it would be enough.

But when Kershaw hit the wall, he was subcompact vs. semi-truck.

Daniel Descalso singled with two outs in the fifth, and it seemed innocent enough. Then Wainwright doubled into the gap to score Descalso. It was the first double of the season for Wainwright. Then ex-Dodger Rafael Furcal looped a game-tying single to center.

But Kershaw (7-6) completely fell apart in the sixth. There was a walk and double to Carlos Beltran. A run-scoring single to David Freese put the Cards up. Then came an intentional walk to Descalso to load the bases and an absolutely not intentional walk to … Wainwright that forced in a run.

When Furcal singled in two more, Kershaw was finally done. Josh Lindblom relieved but gave up a two-run double to Allen Craig, both runs charged to Kershaw.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Dodgers, and an eight-game winning streak against the Cardinals.

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