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Here is a statistical look at the Dodgers, focusing on games from May 18 to May 23. Baseball-Reference.com continues to be an invaluable resource.

HOME, SWEEP HOME

The Dodgers’ sweep of the Cardinals over the weekend was their fifth of the year, all at home. Last season, the Dodgers had four series sweeps all season. The Dodgers are now 19-4 at home, and their ERA at Dodger Stadium is nearly two full runs lower than it is on the road.

Clayton Kershaw’s shutout in the middle game of the series improved the Dodgers to 7-0 on Saturdays and lowered his career ERA at Dodger Stadium to 2.39. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the best home ERA among any active pitcher with at least 50 starts.

The sweep of the Cardinals was the Dodgers’ second straight sweep against St. Louis, dating back to last season. It’s the first time the Dodgers have swept consecutive series against the Cardinals since 1976.

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Why is Ted Lilly 5-0 this season?

Let’s look at three reasons for his amazing start to 2012, as he bids to become the third Dodgers lefty starter in the last six seasons to start 6-0 (along with Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 and Kaz Ishii in 2002) tonight against the Diamondbacks.

First Things First
Lilly has had an unusual amount of success against opponents in the first pitch of an at-bat and it appears that he made a change in his pitching approach with regards to this.

Lilly has thrown a first-pitch strike 68 percent of the time, the fifth-best rate among major league starters entering Tuesday.

He’s also mixed up his approach to right-handed hitters.

From 2009 to 2011, Lilly would start off a right-handed hitter with a cutter or fastball about 70 percent of the time.

Now he’s making those hitters into guessers right off the bat, throwing the cutter and fastball only 55 percent of the time. The rest of the pitches the hitter sees are split among his three offspeed pitches, which he’s throwing for strikes at a 62 percent rate.

Is it working?

Righties are hitting .163 against Lilly this season They are 1-for-14 when hitting the first pitch and have a .211 on-base percentage when Lilly gets ahead 0-1. More significantly he’s yielded only one home run to the 138 he’s faced.

That’s a big difference from his past work. Right-handed hitters have averaged 22 home runs against Lilly over the last nine seasons.

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LOS ANGELES -- The towel full of shaving cream to the face came from Matt Kemp, who is on the disabled list. The water bottle poured over the head came from Dee Gordon, who is coming off the bench these days. It all happened while Scott Van Slyke was attempting to give a live, postgame, on-camera interview to ESPN after playing the unlikely hero in the latest win by these ever-resourceful Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-5 over the St. Louis Cardinals before 44,005 on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium.

The shaving cream, the water, the interview that wasn't meant to be, what it all meant for Van Slyke was that he was officially a major leaguer now, less than two weeks after he was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque for the first time. Unquestionably a major leaguer, just as his father, Andy, was for 13 seasons, and the best part was that Andy was here, in the stands, when his son slammed his first big league home run. The three-run, pinch-hit shot off Marc Rzepczynski in the seventh inning turned a two-run deficit into the lead and, eventually, the Dodgers' seventh win in a row against the Cardinals dating to last season.

"I talked to a couple of guys, and [they said] when I got to first base, I just yelled,'' Van Slyke said. "I have no idea why. I just yelled.''

In a loud ballpark, not that many people could hear Van Slyke yelling. But the sound of the ball coming off his bat, well, that could be heard all the way back in the St. Louis area, where Van Slyke was born, grew up and still lived, and where his dad began his major league career back in 1983, three years before Scott was born.

"I had a couple of friends in the stands, and we're all from St. Louis,'' Van Slyke said. "So I'm sure a little piece of them was cringing. But whatever team it was against, it would have been just as thrilling.''

At first glance, it was somewhat surprising that Van Slyke was given the green light on a 3-0 count, what with him being a rookie and the Dodgers being down by two runs and in desperate need of baserunners. In hindsight, though, maybe it shouldn't have been. There were two outs, the runners were on first and second, and the Dodgers really were looking for one thing.

"At first, I looked down at [third-base coach Tim] Wallach, and he gave me the swing-away sign,'' Van Slyke said. "After that, I was just looking for something to drive. ... I don't think [manager Don Mattingly] pinch hit me to walk or get a little single. I think he wanted me to do some damage.''

Mattingly said after the game he would have gladly taken a gapper from Van Slyke that would have tied the game, but that he was thinking three-run homer when he sent Van Slyke to the plate. He clearly has power, as much as anybody on a Dodgers bench suddenly depleted by the trickle-down effect from a slew of injuries to frontline players.

Van Slyke, 25, has started just once for the Dodgers since his May 9 call up and gotten a grand total of 10 plate appearances -- the first of which saw him deliver a pinch-hit, RBI single off San Francisco reliever Travis Blackley to kick off his big league career. That in itself is a big adjustment for a guy who was not only playing every day at Triple-A Albuquerque but hitting .336 there with nine doubles and eight homers.

But in a small sample size, he is hitting .333 (3-for-9) and clearly has fit well into the clubhouse, for which he credits that second-generation status that he shares with no fewer than five teammates in Gordon, Jerry Hairston, Tony Gwynn, Justin Sellers and Ivan De Jesus.

"My experience just helps me to know how to act in a clubhouse,'' Van Slyke said. "Coming up and being the new guy, you just want to keep your mouth shut. You try to make some friends here and there, but you mostly try to stay low key.''

Staying low key is the one thing Van Slyke didn't do a very good job of on Sunday. And for that, his new teammates are eternally grateful -- even if some of them show that gratitude with shaving cream and cold water.

LOS ANGELES -- Scott Van Slyke, the rookie outfielder whom the Los Angeles Dodgers promoted to the majors for the first time less than two weeks ago, picked the perfect situation for his first big league homer on Sunday night, a three-run, pinch-hit blast off St. Louis Cardinals reliever Mark Rzepczynski in the seventh inning that gave the Dodgers a 6-5 victory before 44,005 at Dodger Stadium and a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champions.

Van Slyke took three balls from Rzepczynski and, in a curious but gutsy decision by manager Don Mattingly, was given the green light on 3-0. Van Slyke then hit a changeup from Rzepczynski over the wall in left-center, erasing what was left of what had been a three-run deficit just an inning earlier.

Van Slyke now needs just 163 more home runs to match the total his father, three-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove outfielder Andy Van Slyke, hit during a 13-year career in the majors. The elder Van Slyke came up with the Cardinals in 1983 and raised his family in the St. Louis area, which is still home to the younger Van Slyke.

The Dodgers recalled Van Slyke, who was added to the 40-man roster last winter, when outfielder Juan Rivera went onto the 15-day disabled list May 9 with a left-hamstring strain. Since then, he is hitting .333 (3-for-9) with six RBIs.

Following another rough start by Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers got three perfect innings from relievers Javy Guerra (2-3), Josh Lindblom and Kenley Jansen (who earned his fifth save).

The Dodgers, who have baseball's best record at 28-13, increased their lead in the National League West to seven games over the second-place San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers begin a three-game series at Arizona on Monday night.

The good

Escape artist. After walking Daniel Descalso to load the bases with nobody out in the third, Chad Billingsley uncharacteristically bore down and pitched out of it, striking out Kyle Lohse and then getting Rafael Furcal to ground into a home-to-first double play. That began a string of eight consecutive batters retired by Billingsley, a streak that wouldn't end until Descalso led off the fifth with a single, leading to a three-run inning.

Glove work. With Cardinals rookie Matt Adams at the plate in the fourth and looking to begin his big league career 2-for-2 after lining the first pitch he saw for a single in the second, Dodgers first baseman James Loney made another of his defensive gems to take a hit away from Adams, diving to his right to snare the ball and then feeding Billingsley for the inning-ending out at first.

Righting himself. In his sixth appearance since being removed from the closer's role, Javy Guerra continued to show improvement, pitching a perfect seventh inning against the heart of the Cardinals' lineup: Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran and David Freese. In those five appearances, Guerra has pitched 5 1/3 innings without giving up a run, although he has given up three hits and three walks.

The bad

Creating his own problems. Billingsley suffered defensive lapses on consecutive plays in what became a pivotal, three-run fifth for the Cardinals. First, with Lohse trying to bunt Descalso into scoring position, Billingsley picked up the ball, looked at second and, despite appearing to have plenty of time to get Descalso, opted to throw to first. Then, Furcal hit a grounder to Loney's right that Loney snared. Billingsley seemed to get there in time to get Furcal, but his footwork was off and he missed the bag after taking the feed from Loney. Billingsley was charged with an error.

Missed chances. The Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth and came away with only one run, Loney bringing it home when he grounded into a double play -- the second time in the game the Dodgers hit into a double play with a runner in scoring position -- before A.J. Ellis struck out to end the threat.

Anti-climactic. That solar eclipse never amounted to much. There was a time during the early innings when it appeared you were looking through sunglasses, but unless you actually walked out into the parking lot during the game -- and who wants to mess with that? -- you never got any real sense that an eclipse was going on and, if you didn't already know it you never would have suspected.

LOS ANGELES -- Jerry Hairston, the Los Angeles Dodgers infielder who has been on the 15-day disabled list since May 11 with a left-hamstring strain and is eligible to return on Tuesday, probably will return on Wednesday.

Hairston is slated for something like a minor league rehabilitation assignment on Monday and Tuesday, even though that isn't what it officially is because it will take place at extended spring training in Glendale, Ariz., rather than with one of the team's minor league affiliates. That will allow Hairston to simply travel with the club, which begins a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night in Phoenix.

Additionally, veteran infielder Aaron Miles, whom the Dodgers recently signed to a minor league contract, transitioned from extended spring training to Triple-A Albuquerque on Saturday, going 2-for-5 in his debut against Sacramento. That move clearly took place ahead of schedule because of the injury to Mark Ellis, which resulted in Ivan De Jesus being recalled from Albuquerque, which in turn meant that every infielder on the Dodgers 40-man roster is now either in the majors or on the major league DL.

That doesn't mean, however, that Miles is headed to the majors anytime soon. He hasn't played regularly since the end of last season and will need considerably playing time before he is ready, and the Dodgers won't be as threadbare on the infield if Hairston comes back as expected on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis was hours away from losing his left leg before undergoing an emergency surgical procedure on Saturday, manager Don Mattingly said he was told by team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

"I didn't realize how bad this was,'' Mattingly said. "Doc said last night that in another six or seven hours, he had a chance of losing the leg.''

The surgical procedure, called a fasciotomy, relieved pressure in Ellis' lower leg caused by swelling. That pressure can cause a muscle to actually die if it goes untreated long enough, which was why Ellis was operated on immediately after going to an area hospital on Saturday when he was still experiencing extreme pain and swelling after being taken out of a double play at second base in the seventh inning on Friday night.

Ellis is expected to be sidelined at least six weeks, but it isn't clear at this point whether his knee also sustained damage, as testing on the knee had to be halted because of the swelling and the surgery.

Anyway, here is the Dodgers starting lineup for tonight, when they will attempt to complete a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals and run their winning streak against the Cardinals -- a team they used to seemingly never beat -- to seven games dating to last year:

Tony Gwynn, CF
Elian Herrera, 2B
Bobby Abreu, LF
Andre Ethier, RF
Adam Kennedy, 3B
James Loney, 1B
A.J. Ellis, C
Justin Sellers, SS
Chad Billingsley, RH

LOS ANGELES -- Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw pitched a six-hit shutout, his first complete game this season, and the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their early-season surge despite a slew of injuries, pounding the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0 before 39,383 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

Kershaw ran his shutout streak to 22 innings over his past three starts. He threw a season-high 116 pitches in his fourth career shutout and seventh career complete game.

Kershaw wasn't completely dominating. The Cardinals hit several balls hard in the early innings, including a couple of fly balls to the warning track, and he struck out just four batters for the game. But in typical fashion, he repeatedly made big pitches when he needed them, stranding runners in scoring position in the second and third innings in a game that stayed tight until the Dodgers put it away with a four-run seventh.

The Dodgers fielded a lineup that was less than threatening on a night when second baseman Mark Ellis became the fifth regular position player to land on the current disabled list and shortstop Dee Gordon was benched for a lack of offensive production. But the Dodgers managed far more offense than they would need with Kershaw on the mound, running baseball's best record to 27-13 and maintaining their six-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the National League West.

The Good

Streaking. A.J. Ellis ran his streak of reaching base to 28 consecutive games by poking a double into the rightfield corner off Jake Westbrook with two outs in the second inning. That is the longest active streak in the majors. Ellis actually has reached base in 31 of his 32 games this season, the only exception being April 10 when he went 0-for-3 against Pittsburgh.

Opposite extremes. The Dodgers broke on top in the bottom of the fourth inning with a rally that was alternately built around patience and agressiveness, Bobby Abreu leading off by working Westbrook for a classic Abreu-like, nine-pitch walk in which he fouled off three 3-2 pitches, Andre Ethier following with a groundrule double on Westbrook's first pitch, and then Adam Kennedy adding seven more to Westbrook's pitch count before lining a ball off the glove of first baseman Matt Carpenter that wound up in right field as both Abreu and Ethier crossed the plate, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

Redemption. Justin Sellers made up for an earlier gaffe (see below) by making a spectacular, lunging, back-to-the-infield catch of a blooper off the bat of Tyler Greene at the start of the fifth inning, robbing Greene of at least a single. Sellers later put the cherry on top with his second career home run, a solo shot just over the wall in left off Westbrook, to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

The Bad

Tradeoff. It didn't take long for the Dodgers to feel the absence of Gordon, their offensively struggling leadoff man who has been benched for the next few days. With one out in the top of the first, Carlos Beltran hit a high pop to shallow left. Sellers, starting at shortstop in place of the defensively gifted Gordon, ran out while left fielder Abreu ran in. Sellers, who has some speed but nothing on a par with Gordon's, peeled off at the last second, and an apparently stunned Abreu initially made a basket catch, but it didn't stay in his glove long enough for the out to be recorded before it popped out and fell to the grass. Beltran was safe at first and Abreu was charged with his first error of the season for either the Dodgers or the Angels, but no harm, no foul, as Beltran never advanced beyond that.

Turnabout. One night after going 4-for-4 with a double, a walk and an RBI against one of his many former teams, Kennedy went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and got himself picked off first base. He may have been robbed of a two-run single, though, not by any of the Cardinals defenders but by the official scorer. Kennedy absolutely smoked the aforementioned ball off Carpenter's glove, but the scorer charged Carpenter with an error. Kennedy thus got credit for driving in the first run, but not the second.

Opportunity knocks. The Dodgers went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position (again, with help from the official scorer), or the beating might have been worse.

LOS ANGELES -- Elian Herrera, who as recently as a week ago wasn't on the Los Angeles Dodgers' 40-man roster and never had even been to major league spring training, is the team's starting second baseman for now.

The assignment will be a sporadic one, as manager Don Mattingly said he will mix in Justin Sellers, Ivan De Jesus and, when he comes off the 15-day disabled list, Jerry Hairston, but it was the switch-hitting, fleet-footed Herrera who drew the assignment on the first day team officials learned they would lose Mark Ellis for at least 15 days and possibly an extended period with a lower left-leg injury.

As for the leadoff spot, which also has been vacated because Mattingly has decided to sit the struggling Dee Gordon for at least a few days, that will be occupied by Tony Gwynn on Saturday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. But while Gwynn is the only player other than Gordon who is a solid fit for that spot in the order, Mattingly isn't comfortable playing Gwynn, who is normally a bench guy, every day.

On nights when Gwynn isn't starting, Mattingly said he could go with Herrera, Sellers or possibly even Bobby Abreu in the leadoff spot.

Here is tonight's lineup, starting with Gwynn and Herrera. It may not look like a recipe for an offensive explosion, but with reigning Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw on the mound, the Dodgers presumably won't need one.

Tony Gwynn, CF

Elian Herrera, 2B

Bobby Abreu, LF

Andre Ethier, RF

Adam Kennedy, 3B

James Loney, 1B

A.J. Ellis, C

Justin Sellers, SS

Clayton Kershaw, LH

LOS ANGELES -- There was plenty to nitpick about the Los Angeles Dodgers' latest victory, 6-5 over the St. Louis Cardinals before 40,906 on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, things like nine runners stranded in scoring position, a blown save in the ninth, four unearned runs by the Cardinals in the third. But it really wasn't the sort of evening to dwell on the negatives, especially when you had a bottom of the ninth like this one, an inning that fairly epitomized how this team with this pop-gun offense and so many key bats presently residing on the disabled list has managed to forge the best record in baseball.

The Dodgers have done it largely on the strength of quality at-bats. Like the eight-pitch walk Elian Herrera took to begin that inning. Like the four-pitch, bases-loaded walk the famously patient A.J. Ellis took to end it.

Cardinals reliever Fernando Salas threw 26 pitches that inning, to five batters, all while recording a grand total of one out. And that, in a nutshell, is what makes this Dodgers offense go, at least when Matt Kemp is out because of a strained hamstring.

"I think everybody here tries to have really good team at-bats any way that they can," said Ellis, who also had an RBI single in the second inning and ran his streak of reaching base to 27 consecutive games. "Some guys, like Andre (Ethier), are going to be more aggressive early in the count. Guys like myself and Bobby (Abreu) are going to be more patient and work the counts more."

It is an approach the New York Yankees used to use to maddening perfection during the day when Joe Torre was their manager and Don Mattingly was their hitting coach, and Torre and Mattingly tried to import that approach when they came to the Dodgers. But for the first couple of years, it was mostly maddening to Torre and Mattingly, and Dodgers hitters bought into it only sporadically.

This year, the Dodgers are doing it as a team perhaps better than at any point since Mattingly came to town four years ago to be their hitting coach. And the result, just as it often was for those Yankees teams, was that Mattingly has been able to squeeze more out of this offense than the sum of its parts.

"The thing we talk about is that we aren't exactly a juggernaut of an offensive club," Mattingly said. "We tell each guy that if a pitcher is going to get you out, make him fight for that out. That goes for guys up and down the order. Don't give that pitcher any easy ones or any free ones."

Ellis is one player who never really needed to hear that sermon. He has been in the Dodgers' organization since 2003, a good five years before the Torre/Mattingly group arrived, and he has always been that guy who drew a lot of walks and posted a high on-base percentage. It is one thing to do that in the minor leagues, where Ellis toiled for six years before making his big league debut and for nine years before getting his first real shot at a big league foothold. But he was never projected to be much of an offensive player at the major league level, for various reasons -- one of them being he perceived as being too passive at the plate.

"I remember being in meetings where you would hear people say he has to be more aggressive, he has to swing the bat," Mattingly said. "On-base (percentage) has always been his M.O., but I think everybody thought that in the big leagues, they were just going to pound the strike zone. But he is swinging the bat. He has hit (three) balls out of the ballpark, he has hit with men on base. He has forced them to make quality pitches, and when they do that, sometimes they miss."

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LOS ANGELES -- Kenley Jansen blew his second save in five chances this season -- his first since being named the Los Angeles Dodgers' full-time closer -- by giving up a two-out, pinch-hit, game-tying home run to the St. Louis Cardinals' Lance Berkman in the top of the ninth inning. But A.J. Ellis drew a four-pitch bases-loaded walk from Cardinals reliever Fernando Salas in the bottom of the inning to give the Dodgers a 6-5 victory before 40,906 on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

The winning rally began when Elian Herrera, the rookie utility man the Dodgers promoted from Triple-A Albuquerque for the first time earlier this week, led off the bottom of the ninth by working Salas for an eight-pitch walk, fouling off a pair of 3-2 pitches in the process. The Cardinals walked James Loney intentionally to load the bases with one out for Ellis and set up a potential double play.

The blown save ruined veteran left-hander Ted Lilly's chance to run his record to 6-0 to begin the season. Lilly scattered four hits over seven strong innings and didn't allow an earned run, although the Cardinals did tag him for four unearned runs in the third inning.

The Dodgers improved baseball's best record to 26-13.

The Good

Risky business. With Loney running off second and one out in the second, Ellis pulled a single through the left side. Although the ball was hit sharply and Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday was charging, Dodgers third-base coach Tim Wallach never hesitated in enthusiastically waving Loney home. Holliday's throw beat Loney, but was just off-line enough that Loney was able to run to the infield side of the plate and barely avoid catcher Yadier Molina's tag, slapping the plate with his right hand as he slid in. Ellis went to second on the throw and subsequently scored on Tony Gwynn's triple, making it 3-0 early.

Hit 'em where they ain't. With Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal shading him well toward the second-base bag, left-handed-hitting Adam Kennedy poked a game-tying single in the third right through the spot where Furcal would've been standing in a straight-up defensive alignment, bringing Mark Ellis home from third. The .186 batting average Kennedy sported coming into this game led many to wonder if his long career was nearing its end. Not yet, apparently. Batting fifth for the Dodgers, Kennedy went 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run scored and an RBI, and he also speared two smoking-hit liners hit right at him at third base. He also committed an error in the seventh, but it turned out to be harmless.

Bouncing back. After giving up a two-run homer to Holliday to cap a four-run Cardinals third, Lilly retired 13 of the next 15 batters, giving up only one hit with another hitter reaching on Kennedy's error. Only two balls were hit out of the infield during that stretch, which kept the game tied through the seventh inning and saved the Dodgers bullpen on a night when Lilly got into early trouble and could have been headed for an early exit.

The Bad

About face. No sooner had the Dodgers taken a 3-0 lead in the second than the Cardinals came back with four in a wild-and-wooly third that included an errant pickoff throw by catcher A.J. Ellis that rendered all four runs unearned; a momentary failure by Ellis to locate a pitch in the dirt on which Shane Robinson struck out, allowing Robinson to reach; and an ejection of manager Don Mattingly for arguing from the dugout when the Dodgers didn't get the call on what would have been an inning-ending third strike to Matt Carpenter that would have preserved a two-run lead.

Wasted chances. The Dodgers stranded nine baserunners through the first eight innings, seven of them in scoring position and three of them at third base, all three of whom had gotten to third base with less than two outs.

The unset table. Dee Gordon's maddening struggles in the leadoff spot continued, the Dodgers shortstop going 0-for-5 without hitting a ball out of the infield.

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon was out early on Friday, well before batting practice, and spent a lot of that time working on his bunting while bench coach Trey Hillman fed balls into a pitching machine. Will it help him become a better leadoff man instead of the guy who has gone 2-for-26 over his past six games and appears to be utterly lost at the plate? Who knows? But in fairness to Gordon, this should be pointed out:

There is something about batting first in the Dodgers order this season that is virtual kryptonite to a guy's offensive numbers, and it isn't limited to Gordon.

Three guys have hit leadoff for the Dodgers this year: Gordon, Tony Gwynn and Justin Sellers. Sellers has done it just once, such a small sample size that we're going to throw him out of this equation and look solely at Gordon and Gwynn.

In games in which they have hit leadoff, Gordon and Gwynn are hitting a combined .204 with a .253 on-base percentage -- far below the level of acceptability. And while it's true that Gordon screws up the math because he has hit there in all but six games this season -- he has hit .204 with a .245 OBP -- Gwynn has hit just .200 in the leadoff spot, with a .304 OBP. Compare that to Gwynn's perfectly acceptable overall marks of .282 and .346, and you have to wonder what it is about the leadoff spot.

Those numbers are also somewhat skewed by the fact they include games in which Gwynn might have been slotted first after entering a game defensively in the late innings, but they still give you a general idea.

For now, in the eyes of manager Don Mattingly at least, Gordon still is the best option for hitting leadoff, so he will hit there again on Friday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Dee Gordon, SS

Mark Ellis, 2B

Bobby Abreu, LF

Andre Ethier, RF

Adam Kennedy, 3B

James Loney, 1B

A.J. Ellis, C

Tony Gwynn, CF

Ted Lilly, LH

We take a statistical look at the Los Angeles Dodgers, focusing on games from May 11 to May 17. As always, Baseball-Reference.com lends a huge helping hand.

Capuano and Lilly off to great starts

Chris Capuano picked up a win Friday, and Ted Lilly did the same Sunday. Each improved to 5-0 on the season (although Capuano took a loss in his next start Wednesday). It’s the first time a pair of Dodgers starters began the year 5-0 since 1981, when Fernando Valenzuela and Burt Hooton started 8-0 and 7-0, respectively. It’s only the fourth time in the last 50 seasons two Dodgers starters began the year 5-0.

In his win Sunday, Lilly allowed five runs on six hits, the first time he’d allowed more than four hits or two runs in a start since last September, a span of eight straight starts. Since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, no other Dodger had a streak longer than five starts allowing four or fewer hits and two or fewer runs. The only pitcher in the last 90 years with a longer streak is Johan Santana, who made nine such starts in a row in 2004.

Kershaw avoids the home run

Clayton Kershaw picked up his third win of the season Monday, tossing seven scoreless innings to beat the Diamondbacks. The start broke a string of three straight starts in which he’d allowed at least one home run. It may seem obvious, but especially key for Kershaw is keeping the ball in the park. Dating back to 2010, he’s won his last 19 decisions in starts in which he hasn’t allowed a home run; that’s the longest such streak since Mike Mussina won 24 straight from 2003 to 2006.

Diamondbacks no match for Kershaw

Kershaw has dominated the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium over his career, especially in the last two seasons. Since the start of the 2011 season, Kershaw has made three starts in L.A. against the Diamondbacks, winning all three. Over 19 innings, he’s allowed no runs and eight hits while striking out 21. In his career, Kershaw is 4-0 with a 1.31 ERA in six home starts against Arizona.

Left-handed trio

Capuano, Lilly and Kershaw each picked up wins over the week and together form the top left-handed starting pitching trio in baseball. They’ve combined for 13 wins; no other team has more than eight wins from left-handed starters.

Bullpen getting on track

The Dodgers’ bullpen was terrific over the last week, allowing four earned runs over 16 1/3 innings (2.20 ERA). Dating back to the beginning of the Giants’ series on May 7, the Dodgers’ bullpen has a 1.42 ERA, best in the National League over that time. Entering May 7, the Dodgers’ bullpen ERA stood at 4.39.

Belisario stays grounded

One reason for the relief resurgence has been the return of Ronald Belisario. Belisario, who missed all of 2011 and the first month of 2012, hasn’t allowed a run in 5 2/3 innings since making his season debut May 5. Opponents are hitting 2 for 19 (.105) against him. Right-handed hitters are 0 for 9 with five groundouts.

Belisario’s sinker has been extremely effective; it’s the only pitch he’s thrown, and 12 of the 15 balls in play against him have been grounders. During the week, Belisario did not allow a hit to any of the 10 hitters he faced, and all six balls put in play against him resulted in groundouts.

Gwynn excels off the bench

Tony Gwynn Jr.’s pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth Saturday night gave the Dodgers a 2-1 win over the Rockies. Gwynn now has driven in six runs on the season; five have come as a pinch-hitter. He’s driven in one run over his 15 starts.

It was the first go-ahead pinch hit in the Dodgers’ final at-bat in almost a year, dating back to a walk-off single by Dioner Navarro last May 27 against the Marlins.

Big inning for Dodgers

The Dodgers’ six-run fifth inning Sunday was their highest-scoring inning of the season, and it featured only two run-scoring plays; a three-run double by Bobby Abreu and a three-run homer by A.J. Ellis. The Dodgers hadn’t had two three-run hits in the same inning since August 24, 2004, when Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam and Alex Cora hit a three-run homer in an eight-run fifth inning in Montreal.

Billingsley doesn’t stick around

Chad Billingsley lasted only four innings Tuesday night, allowing four runs before being taken out. It was second straight four-inning start. Since the start of 2011, Billingsley has made seven starts of four innings or fewer, tied with Francisco Liriano, Rick Porcello and Jo-Jo Reyes for the most in baseball.

Run prevention

The Dodgers have allowed five runs or fewer in 13 consecutive games, the team’s longest streak since a 31-gamer in 2009. The 31-game streak was the longest by any team since 1973. In each of the three games immediately preceding the current streak, the Dodgers surrendered at least six runs in Colorado.

Ethier the constant

If Andre Ethier looked around Wednesday and had a hard time recognizing his teammates, it would be tough to blame him. He was the only Dodger in Wednesday’s lineup who was also in the team’s Opening Day lineup. Ethier is the only Dodger to appear in every game this season.

Dodgers off to best start since 1983

Before losses Tuesday and Wednesday, the Dodgers’ record through 35 games stood at 24-11 after a five-game winning streak. It was the Dodgers’ best 35-game start since 1983, when the team started 25-10. Each of the previous four times the Dodgers started at least 24-11 in the Divisional Era the team went on to make the playoffs.

LOS ANGELES -- Our eyes tell us we have seen this before. Common sense tells us the same thing. But on Tuesday night, just after a 5-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks before 47,077 at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told us this was something completely different from what our eyes, and our common sense, told us it was.

No, Mattingly said, Chad Billingsley wasn't pitching all that poorly as he was giving up four runs and eight hits over four-plus innings.

"I'm being serious," Mattingly said. "I thought he was throwing the ball better. I'm not saying everything was perfect, but he should have come out of it better. Obviously, we don't like the result, but I liked the way the ball was coming out of his hand. He has been working hard to get back to where he was at the start of the season and get his delivery where it needs to be."

OK, fair enough -- to a point.

Yes, Billingsley has been working with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt lately on a slight mechanical adjustment, and yes, Billingsley said he felt better in that regard during this game -- "It was just a matter of getting my hand out of my glove a little bit sooner. I was drifting toward home, and when I took my hand out of my glove, I had to play catchup with my arm." And yes, as Mattingly was quick to point out, two of the four consecutive singles Billingsley gave up to start the fifth inning, resulting in his early exit, had been a foot or two over from where they were, either one of them might have been a double play.

And OK, even if this was Billingsley's second consecutive start in which he failed to record an out past the fourth inning, this one probably wasn't as frustrating or as discouraging as the other one.

But the definitive moment of this one didn't come in the Diamondbacks' three-run fifth that chased Billingsley. Instead, it came in their one-run second, when something that has plagued Billingsley throughout his seven seasons in the majors jumped up to bite him once again.

After a leadoff double by Jason Kubel that probably should have been a single -- Jerry Sands, playing left field after arriving from Triple-A Albuquerque earlier in the day, took a bad route to the ball -- Billingsley came right back to strike out Ryan Roberts and induce a grounder to third by Lyle Overbay, all without Kubel advancing.

Next came an intentional walk to Aaron Hill to get to the pitcher's spot, a strategy that is at least debatable at such an early juncture, but that was what Mattingly opted to do. And then, Billingsley struck out Wade Miley to end the threat, or so it seemed.

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LOS ANGELES -- Chad Billingsley had another rough outing, giving up four runs and eight hits over four-plus innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers saw their five-game winning streak end in a 5-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks before 47,077 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

It was the second consecutive start in which Billingsley failed to record an out beyond the fourth inning. In his past three starts, the veteran right-hander is 0-2 with 6.43 ERA, this after he went 2-1 with a 2.64 ERA in his first five starts this season.

The Dodgers, playing with Matt Kemp, Juan Uribe and Juan Rivera all on the disabled list, never mounted much of an offensive threat against Diamondbacks lefty Wade Miley, who held them to a single run despite giving up eight hits over 6 2/3 innings.

The Dodgers (24-12) begin a two-game series in San Diego on Wednesday before returning home to start a three-game series with the world champion St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

The Good

Sliding hard but clean. Mark Ellis provided a textbook example of how to break up a double play in the bottom of the first. After his one-out single, Scott Van Slyke hit a hard bouncer back to the mound. Miley turned and fired to second for the force, but before second baseman Aaron Hill could even take the ball out of his glove for the relay throw, Ellis slid into him with such force that the ball popped out of Hill's glove. Second-base umpire Ted Barrett ruled, correctly, that Hill had held onto the ball long enough for the force, but Ellis' slide kept the inning alive for the Dodgers. Ellis also broke an 0-for-10 skid with three hits, including his second home run of the season off Miley in the sixth.

A perfect fit. Playing center field in a regular-season, major league game for the first time ever, Andre Ethier was outstanding, making a laser of a throw on the fly to third base to prevent Miley from going first to third on a single by Gerardo Parra in the fifth and making a diving catch of a sinking liner by Justin Upton to end the sixth, possibly saving a run.

Bouncing back. Although he hardly pitched a clean inning after relieving Billingsley with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth -- he gave up a run-scoring single to the first batter he faced, Jason Kubel -- Javy Guerra continued to pitch adequately since being removed last week from the closer's role. In four appearances since manager Don Mattingly reluctantly pulled the trigger, Guerra has pitched 3 2/3 innings while allowing no runs and three hits.

The Bad

The scenic route. In his first game in the majors this season, Jerry Sands, who was positioned way off the line in left, took a horrible route to a blooper by Kubel in the second inning. The ball fell about 10 feet inside the line and skipped past Sands to the wall, allowing Kubel to turn a single into a leadoff double and eventually score the Diamondbacks' first run of the game.

Mix in a strike. Billingsley followed Kubel's double by retiring the next two batters without Kubel advancing, then intentionally walked Hill to get to the pitcher. But that strategy went awry when Billingsley first threw a wild pitch on a strikeout of Miley, allowing Miley to reach and load the bases, then issued a bases-loaded walk to Parra, giving the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead.

Thanks for stopping by. Elian Herrera's major league debut -- a pinch-hitting appearance in the bottom of the fifth -- was greeted with loud cheers, but only because it happened to coincide with the end of the Los Angeles Kings' playoff win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The switch-hitting Herrera, whose contract had been purchased from Triple-A Albuquerque on Monday, stepped in from the right side against Miley and popped to short before taking a seat for the remainder of the evening.

LOS ANGELES -- Amid a slew of key injuries, including to Matt Kemp and the two-Juan punch (see what I did there?) of Juan Rivera and Juan Uribe, there was one bit of good news for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

The team's medical staff is cautiously optimistic that utility infielder Jerry Hairston could return as soon as he becomes eligible May 23. Hairston is a bench player, but nevertheless is one of the Dodgers' most important players because of his ability to play six positions.

"It sounds like it, or at least within a day or two (of May 23),'' Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "That is what (trainer) Sue (Falsone) is kind of saying.''

Mattingly said Hairston will likely do a minor league rehabilitation assignment before he is activated, even if it's a short one.

"Again, we'll talk about that,'' Mattingly said. "To me, it makes sense to go play one game at least, because then if you still feel a little something and you aren't sure about (coming back), you're not going to have to go back to two more weeks. It's just getting a couple of at-bats, testing it and saying 'I'm good.'''

Meanwhile, with so many players out, Mattingly fielded what even he conceded was a strange lineup for Tuesday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, one that included Andre Ethier making his first career start in center field (unless you count the 2010 All-Star Game), Scott Van Slyke making his first career start anywhere (in right field) and Jerry Sands being thrown right into the lineup (in left field) on the day he arrived from Triple-A Albuquerque to fill Kemp's roster spot.

Dee Gordon, SS

Mark Ellis, 2B

Scott Van Slyke, RF

Andre Ethier, CF

A.J. Ellis, C

Jerry Sands, LF

James Loney, 1B

Justin Sellers, 3B

Chad Billingsley, RH