Willkommen! » hes when I had to," Kershaw said. "Tonight I was

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Clayton Kershaw was asked to assess his performance against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night, and the Dodgers ace bemoaned the fact that he didnt have command of his fastball. Maybe if he did, hed have tossed another no-hitter. Kershaw still managed to follow his first career no-no by going eight marvelous innings, and Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier drove in a run apiece as the Dodgers scraped out a 2-0 victory. "It definitely wasnt easy tonight," Kershaw said. It only looked that way. "All night he felt like he was fighting it," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly explained. "His fastball command wasnt where he wanted it, but typical Clayton." Kershaw (8-2) allowed six hits and a walk while striking out eight. The two-time Cy Young winner hasnt allowed a run in 21 1-3 innings, spanning his near-perfect game against Colorado on Wednesday -- the only runner occurred on an error -- and his previous start against Arizona. Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his 23rd save. Danny Duffy (4-7) dueled admirably with Kershaw for six innings, allowing one run on four hits and four walks. But the left-hander was done in by a high pitch count, needing a season-high 105, and was eventually lifted to protect his surgically repaired shoulder. Eric Hosmer had a pair of hits for the Royals, the first with one out in the first inning to end any thought of Kershaw tossing consecutive no-hitters. Otherwise, their offence was sporadic, unable to string together enough runners to pose much of a threat. "Hes as good as advertised, thats for sure, every bit of it," Hosmer said. "Hes definitely got his game plan, which he sticks to the whole time. Hes got four well-above average pitches. The main thing about him is he gets ahead and attacks you early. Thats a guy you dont want to get behind on with great off-speed and a fastball that he can hump to 95, 96. Luckily, thats the last time we face him." The Dodgers plated their first run after Justin Turner tripled to lead off the game. He scored on a hard grounder by Gonzalez, which deflected off Duffy and toward second base for what nearly ended up being the games only run. Ethiers RBI single came off reliever Kelvin Herrera in the ninth inning. Duffy needed 29 pitches to survive the first, and he wiggled out of jams each of the next four innings, too. But while he was gritty enough to keep Kansas City in the game, a lineup that has struggled to put up runs for the last week failed him again. Kansas City has only scored 13 times while losing five of its last six. Los Angeles had lost all four of its games played at Kauffman Stadium, including the series opener Monday night, when the Royals beat up on Zack Greinke, their former ace. They had a much tougher time handling Kershaw. Showcasing his mid-90s fastball, power curveball and devastating slider, Kershaw at one point retired eight straight. And even when he ran into trouble, he slipped right out of it. Kershaw induced a double play after Hosmers single in the first. He rallied from a 3-0 count to Alex Gordon to strike him out with a runner aboard in the sixth. In the seventh, he got Justin Maxwell and Alcides Escobar on groundouts to leave a pair of runners on base. "Thats the best slider weve seen all year long," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "That thing had teeth with a bite." In fact, the biggest blight on Kershaws night may have been his walk to Gordon in the fifth inning. It was only the second hed allowed to a left-handed hitter this season. "I made some pitches when I had to," Kershaw said. "Tonight I was making a lot more stressful pitches. The no-hitter was stressful for more personal reasons." NOTES: Dodgers SS Hanley Ramirez (sore right shoulder) was scratched from the starting lineup. "Hopefully well have him tomorrow," Mattingly said. ... The Royals activated LHP Bruce Chen (bulging disc) from the 60-day DL, optioned LHP Tim Collins to Triple-A Omaha and designated LHP Donnie Joseph for assignment. ... Dodgers RHP Dan Haren faces Royals RHP James Shields in Wednesday nights series finale. Bastad, Sweden - Top seed David Ferrer and his third- seeded fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco were among Thursdays second-round winners at the Swedish Open. The two-time champion Ferrer cruised past Romanian veteran Victor Hanescu 6-4, 6-0, while the left-handed Verdasco handled qualifier and fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 7-5 on the red clay at Bastad Tennis Stadium. Verdasco was last years runner-up here to Argentine Carlos Berlocq. Ferrer was the 2007 and 2012 Bastad titlist and runner-up in 2011. Up next for Ferrer will be the defendding champion Berlocq, while Verdasco will encounter fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in Fridays quarterfinals.dddddddddddd Also on Day 4, a seventh-seeded Berlocq overcame qualifier Radu Albot, of Moldova, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 and the eighth-seeded rising star Carreno Busta drilled Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-2, 6-2. The other quarters will pit fifth-seeded Portuguese Joao Sousa against Serb Dusan Lajovic and Uruguays Pablo Cuevas versus qualifier and fellow South American Renzo Olivo of Argentina. The 2014 Bastad titlist will collect $105,000. 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