LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw’s cheering section Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium included pitching legend Sandy Koufax and country music legend Brad Paisley. Kershaw obliged by adding to his legend.

He fired seven innings with nine strikeouts in a 3-1 Dodgers win over the Cardinals, raising his record to 11-2 and lowering his ERA to 2.77. He allowed four hits and walked one.

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Back in Spring Training, there was real concern that Kershaw’s shoulder was shot. As usual, though, Kershaw found a way to heal and hurl his way back to the top.

“This guy’s the best pitcher of our generation,” said manager Dave Roberts. “To count him out, to think he can’t do something, you’re not going to hear it from me. The thing for us is to make sure we keep him healthy. Credit goes to him and our training staff. He’s curtailed some of his regimen, but the mindset, the will, the desire, the compete -- there’s just no parallel.”

Kershaw started the season on the injured list and didn't pitch until April 15, but he has thrown at least six innings in each of his 20 starts. He is 8-0 with a 2.26 ERA at Dodger Stadium. His career strikeout total of 2,406 is 47th in Major League history. On the Dodgers’ all-time list, he’s behind only Don Sutton and Don Drysdale, having passed Koufax in his previous start.

Kershaw wasn’t happy with that last outing against the Padres because he issued five walks. Against the Cards, the only free pass he gave was in his final inning. He allowed leadoff hits each of the first three innings but locked in after Dexter Fowler’s third-inning single to retire the next 13 batters.

“Getting the first batter of the inning is huge, and I was able to do that after the first few innings,” said Kershaw.

Roberts noticed Kershaw’s sliders had a wider range of velocity, from 83 mph to 87 mph, although Kershaw said that wasn’t by design. Regardless, five of the strikeouts came on sliders.

“He really corralled those first few innings when he wasn’t in sync,” said Roberts.

Dodgers defense, under fire in recent weeks, stepped up. Specifically, Joc Pederson and Cody Bellinger, who swapped positions this week. Now in right field, Pederson made a long running catch on Andrew Knizner’s drive into the right-center gap to save a run and end the top of the seventh inning.

“That last play with Joc was incredible,” said Kershaw. “I didn’t expect him to get to it, but he did. So, it was awesome. Obviously, a huge play for us and probably the difference in the game.”

Now back at first base, Bellinger made a pair of tricky plays. The toughest came in the second inning with one run in and Matt Carpenter at first base. Bellinger charged, then changed direction on Tommy Edman’s popup bunt over his head, gloved the ball on the bounce with his back to the infield and then whirled and fired to second to force out Carpenter.

Reliever Pedro Báez escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning by striking out Paul DeJong, and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth inning for his 26th save but his first since July 26.

Kershaw doesn’t start again for a week, but he’ll be on one day of rest Thursday when he hosts his annual Kershaw’s Challenge Ping-Pong 4 Purpose Celebrity Tournament on the Dodger Stadium infield, honoring Paisley and his actress wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley. The singer interrupted his tour to attend, with a concert in Atlantic City the next night.

With home-field advantage, Kershaw should go favored. What is it with Dodger Stadium, where the Dodgers are 45-15 this year and Kershaw is 91-34 in his career?

“We just enjoy playing at home,” Kershaw said. “There’s something about this team specifically. Dodger Stadium is a special place, and we know that. We get the most fans at every game. It’s just a special place for us.”