The Los Angeles Dodgers capped a rousing start to the second half of the season on Thursday with a 6-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

The game featured the return of Clayton Kershaw and another home run from Shohei Ohtani.

Kershaw and Ohtani sent the surging Dodgers into a three-city, eight-game road trip that starts Friday against the Houston Astros.

Kershaw allowed two runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts over four innings in his season debut and first appearance since Oct. 7, 2023.

Ohtani went back-to-back with Nick Ahmed in the bottom of the eighth inning, clubbing his National League-leading 31st homer to help lift the Dodgers to their sixth win in seven games since the All-Star break. The Dodgers dropped six of seven before the break.

"We know what kind of team we are," said Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes, who went 2-for-4 and extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 consecutive games. "We obviously had some rough patches, but we're still one of the best teams in baseball. We feel good about ourselves."

Right-hander Gavin Stone (9-3, 3.19 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Dodgers on Friday.

Stone did not factor into the decision last Friday after surrendering one run on six hits with three strikeouts over five innings in the Dodgers' 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Since tossing his first career shutout on June 26 against the Chicago White Sox, Stone is 0-1 with a 6.39 ERA in three starts.

Stone will make his first career start against the Astros. He is 4-0 with a 3.60 ERA in eight career interleague appearances, including six starts.

Left-hander Framber Valdez (8-5, 3.63) is the scheduled starter for Houston in the series opener.

Valdez allowed two runs on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings on Saturday against the Seattle Mariners but did not factor into the decision of a 4-2 victory. After dropping consecutive road starts last month, Valdez is 3-0 with a 2.97 ERA in his last five starts with 32 strikeouts over 30 1/3 innings.

Valdez is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA in two career starts against the Dodgers, both coming during the 2020 season. In his lone home start against the Dodgers that season, Valdez allowed three runs on four hits and one walk with two strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings in a 5-2 loss on July 28.

Behind right-hander Hunter Brown, who has emerged as the staff ace over the past eight weeks, the Astros salvaged the finale of a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics with an 8-1 win on Wednesday. The Astros completed a six-game road trip at 3-3, good enough to return to Houston for a nine-game homestand in first place in the American League West.

It will mark the first time this season that the Astros play at home while atop the division. Houston trailed the Seattle Mariners by 10 games as recently as June 18.

"That was a big win," said Brown, who is 8-2 with a 2.10 ERA during a stretch of 12 consecutive starts of at least six innings pitched. "Take it into the homestand and play some good baseball there."

Added Astros outfielder Chas McCormick: "It's going to be really exciting. Our fans want it, we want it and this is the best time of the year. We've got to anchor down and get ready to win ... every game possible. It's going to be fun to play at Minute Maid (Park)."

--Field Level Media