St. Louis, MO -- (Sports Network) - Manny Ramirez belted a two-run home run, and Clayton Kershaw threw seven brilliant innings as Los Angeles downed St, Louis, 4-1, to avoid a sweep in the finale of a three-game set at Busch Stadium.

Kershaw (2-3) allowed just one run on three hits while walking four and fanning seven for the Dodgers, who have won three of their last five games and reached .500 (57-57) on the season.

"He was really good today," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of Kershaw. "He had his stuff locating in the right spots. Three of the four runs we could have stopped but we didn't do anything to hit today. So you tip your hat to him."

Jeff Kent finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored for Los Angeles, which is now just 1 1/2 games behind Arizona for first place in the NL West.

Cesar Izturis was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Cardinals, who fell six games behind the idle Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

Kyle Lohse (13-4) allowed four runs on seven hits in seven innings en route to the loss.

The Dodgers jumped on top with a run in the first. Kent slapped a two-out, ground-rule double to right and, after Ramirez walked, James Loney came through with a run-scoring single to left.

Los Angles added a pair of runs in the third when Kent got on with a one-out single and Ramirez followed by depositing his fourth home run as a Dodger over the wall in left.

Juan Pierre made it a 4-0 game in the fourth when his two-out triple drove in Danny Ardoin.

The Cards finally broke through off Kershaw in the fifth when Aaron Miles got on with a two-out infield single, swiped second on a wild pitch and scored on Izturis' single to right.

Things settled down from there until St. Louis threatened off Jonathan Broxton in the ninth. Ryan Ludwick led off the frame with a single to right and quickly advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Troy Glaus chased Ludwick to third by chopping out to the right side, Felipe Lopez drew a walk to put runners on the corners and bring the tying run to the plate.

Broxton continued to struggle, allowing Lopez to steal second and going 3-2 to pinch hitter Rick Ankiel before punching the former pitcher out on what would have been ball four. Skip Schumaker, another pinch hitter, followed by striking out to end the game as Broxton earned his sixth save of the season.

Game Notes

Ramirez has a total of 24 homers on the season...Kershaw made his big league debut against the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium on May 25 and was impressive. The 20-year-old allowed two runs in a six-inning no-decision...St. Louis is 4-2 against the Dodgers this season...