, but Nishikoris decision-making was clouded by fatigue, and he lost his s

LOS ANGELES -- Keep the champagne on ice and the ski goggles on the shelf. The Dodgers were left waiting to clinch their fourth consecutive NL West title.They certainly did their part.Clayton Kershaw scattered three hits over seven scoreless innings, Josh Reddick slugged a grand slam in the seventh and Los Angeles beat the Colorado Rockies 14-1 on Saturday night to reduce its magic number to one with its fourth straight win.The Dodgers just didnt get any help from the Padres.San Diego rallied from 6-0 down but then lost at home to San Francisco 9-6 in 10 innings. The final outs were shown on the video board at Dodger Stadium, with fans booing when the Giants won.They gave us a lot of hope there, Kershaw said of the Padres comeback. But well wait until tomorrow.Los Angeles is on the brink of becoming the first team to win four straight NL West titles. The last NL club to claim four division titles in a row was the Philadelphia Phillies, who won the NL East from 2007-11.The Dodgers can wrap up the title Sunday with a victory in Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scullys final home game before he retires next weekend.Its always sweeter to clinch at home, rookie manager Dave Roberts said, adding it would be only fitting with Scully watching from his fifth-floor booth.Kershaw (12-3) struck out six and walked none to improve to 8-1 at home. The left-hander has been solid since coming off the disabled list after a herniated disk last month.Physically, I feel really good, he said. Just a little bit inconsistent with some things, sliders that didnt quite get where I wanted to go.Chad Bettis (13-8) gave up seven runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, struck out three and walked four. The right-hander has been having one of his best seasons, with career highs in wins, starts (31) and innings (179 1/3), but he struggled from the second inning on and fell to 6-6 on the road.It was pretty embarrassing, Bettis said. I tried to set the tone early but my pitches were coming back over the plate.The Dodgers led 4-0 in the second on Joc Pedersons two-run single, a fielders choice groundout by Corey Seager and Justin Turners RBI single. Turner reached base five times, going 3 for 3, with two runs and two walks.Los Angeles tacked on two runs in the fourth to make it 6-0. Pederson scored on left fielder Ryan Raburns error and Turner singled to drive in his second run.Reddick, who went 3 for 4, added an RBI single in the sixth and Adrian Gonzalez had a two-run single in the seventh, extending the lead to 10-0. Reddicks grand slam came with two outs in the seventh, making it 14-0.Rookie Pat Valaika, from nearby Valencia, hit his first major league homer in the eighth off Jesse Chavez for Colorados run.There is thunder in that bat, Colorado manager Walt Weiss said.TRAINERS ROOMDodgers: LHP Rich Hill was scratched from his Sunday start out of concern for a blister that forced him to miss a month earlier in the season and caused him to leave a perfect game after seven innings on Sept. 11. Hell be replaced by RHP Brandon McCarthy. Hill will start either next Saturday or Sunday at San Francisco. ... LHP Scott Kazmir is receiving treatment for rib and chest spasms that forced him out of Saturday nights game after one inning. The team doesnt know if or when he will make another start. ... Kershaw will start either Friday or Saturday at San Francisco.CATCHING FIREReddick is red-hot this month, batting .397 with five doubles, two homers and eight RBI in eight games after struggling last month.August was a mixture of bad luck and bad swings, he said.KERSHAW AT THE PLATEKnown as a good hitter, Kershaw helped himself with a two-out RBI single in the fifth, extended the Dodgers lead to 7-0.OOPSRockies catcher Tony Wolters lost track of how many outs there were in the sixth. With Adrian Gonzalez at bat, Justin Turner took off for second base. Gonzalez struck out swinging, Wolters stood up and started walking off the field only to have Turner steal second with two outs. The Dodgers went on to score a run before the inning ended.TRANSISTOR TIMESome Dodgers fans brought radios to the game in a throwback salute to Scully, who credits the transistor as the single greatest break of his 67-year career. In 1958, when the Dodgers moved west and played at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, fans toted radios to hear Scully describe the players and action that was too far away to see well in the vast stadium.UP NEXTRockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (5-6, 3.58 ERA) makes his seventh start on the road, where he is 0-4 with a 5.10 ERA. The rookie has beaten the Dodgers twice this season, but hasnt won that second victory over them on Aug. 31.Dodgers: McCarthy (2-2, 3.63) comes off a month-long stint on the disabled list with right hip stiffness.Devan Dubnyk Wild Jersey . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. J.T. Brown Wild Jersey . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Luke-kunin-wild-jersey/ . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Jason Zucker Wild Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Joel Eriksson Ek Wild Jersey . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No.LONDON -- Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori tend to linger when they get together. Their latest matchup set a record.Murray survived the longest three-set match in ATP Finals history when he prevailed against Nishikori 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday.They needed 3 hours, 20 minutes, to separate themselves. The first set alone took 85 minutes.Murray, 2-0 in his group, can clinch a semifinal berth for the first time in four years with a win over U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka on Friday.Wawrinka eliminated Marin Cilic from contention 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in an almost two-hour-long late match.Losing to No. 5-ranked Nishikori would have hurt Murrays chances of holding off Novak Djokovic to keep the No. 1 ranking.Murray relieved Djokovic of the top ranking last week, and Murray believed it would be a fitting end to the year to play the Serb for the ranking and ATP Finals title on Sunday in the final.For the tournament and stuff, for everyone interested in tennis, that would probably be the perfect way to finish the year, Murray said.For me and, Im sure, for Novak, both of our goals would be to try to win the event. It doesnt change for us as players.Murray admitted he abused himself on court more than usual while trying to figure out how to overcome Nishikori.He could have won in two sets, for sure, Murray said.He moves the ball around extremely well, better than anyone maybe. It was physically tough. I wasnt able to dictate many of the points, it felt. More so in the third set I was able to. But not in the first couple of sets. I was having to run, fight, get as many balls back as I could.I feel OK right now. Its normally the next day when you feel stiff and sore, but theres hoppefully three days left in the season, and Ill give my best to get through as many matches as I can.ddddddddddddFor all of Murrays achievements this year, this was the first time he played a top-five opponent since June, when he lost to Djokovic in the French Open final.Nishikori was one of only three players to beat him in the intervening five months, edging a five-setter in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. They also went five sets and almost five hours in the Davis Cup in March.Nishikori extended their first set on Wednesday when he saved a set point at 6-5 down, but he needed four set points to take the opener on a wide forehand by Murray.Murray immediately broke to start the second. Nishikori tied it at 4-4. But Murray broke straight back, and had to save two set points to force a decider.Murray has played more matches than ever this season and he looked drained, but Nishikoris decision-making was clouded by fatigue, and he lost his serve in the third game.When a double fault made it 4-1 to Murray, the Scot finally had some breathing space and the end in sight.Nishikori showed commendable resolve to retrieve one break, but Murray served out at the second time of asking for his 21st successive win.Murray has a chance to match his best streak of 22, from June to August, when he plays Wawrinka on Friday to end group action.Wawrinka saved one set point in the first set, and dominated the tiebreaker. Cilic broke to open the second, but Wawrinka got him back and served too good in the tiebreaker again for his 11th win in 13 matchups with Cilic. ' ' '