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LOS ANGELES -- A month or so ago, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he considered Adrian Gonzalez his team's MVP, a stance that's becoming difficult to defend from a statistical standpoint.

Clayton Kershaw, Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig all have higher WARs despite playing in a fraction of the games Gonzalez has (and, remember, WAR is a counting stat).

But in addition to hitting, hitting for power, throwing, fielding and running, there's a sixth tool that might be the most crucial of them all: staying on the field. Some people consider staying healthy a skill, and Gonzalez has been a master of it.

Since he established himself as an every-day player in 2006, Gonzalez has never missed more than six games in a season. With the rain of injuries the Dodgers endured in the season's first few months, that ability has been crucial to this team's chances. It became clear again Thursday, when Ramirez had to be pulled once again because of a tight hamstring.

"I think you look back at the season and you think that Adrian's really been the glue that kept us going, kind of kept us hanging around," Mattingly said after Gonzalez drove in the winning run in the 10th inning of the Dodgers' 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday. "It could have been a lot worse with all the injuries. Adrian was able to kind of steady the ship almost and just keep us around."

As usual, Gonzalez is hitting better with runners in scoring position (.326) than he is without runners in scoring position (.285). He has long been a master of the clutch hit, largely because he simplifies in pressure situations. He lined a single just past diving shortstop Brandon Crawford to drive in Carl Crawford from second base Thursday.

The Dodgers have enjoyed eight walk-off wins at Dodger Stadium this season, and Gonzalez has been in the middle of many of them. He has enjoyed them so much, he'd like to do it again in a few weeks. Gonzalez has been to the playoffs only once, in 2006, when he batted .357 for the San Diego Padres.

"That's one of the reasons why we want home-field advantage in the playoffs, because you get an extra edge," Gonzalez said.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers took another step toward favorable playoff positioning, but they did so with a slight limp.

In front of another sellout crowd on Thursday night, they beat the San Francisco Giants 3-2 in 10 innings when Adrian Gonzalez laced a single into center field to score Carl Crawford. But earlier, one of their recurring injury headaches returned.

Hanley Ramirez left the game in the seventh inning because of a mildly strained left hamstring, a move the team termed "precautionary." Perhaps it is, but Ramirez missed most of May and part of June because of that same strained left hamstring.

The Dodgers reduced their magic number for winning their division to five games, meaning they could clinch as early as Sunday, and stayed only two games behind the Atlanta Braves for best record in the National League.

Closer Kenley Jansen blew his first save since June after converting 18 straight chances. But that just set up the Dodgers' eighth walk-off victory this season.

The Dodgers turned a difficult double play to erase a Giants rally in the eighth inning. Juan Uribe picked up a Hunter Pence grounder, stepped on the third-base bag and threw to first base, where Gonzalez dug an in-between hop out of the dirt.

The hitting hero, as is often the case, was Yasiel Puig. The Dodgers had largely spun their wheels against Matt Cain, but A.J. Ellis hit a sinking popup to right field that Pence misplayed into a single in the seventh inning. Two outs later, Puig yanked a ball into the left-center gap to drive in pinch runner Dee Gordon with the go-ahead run.

The Giants didn't actually score much against Zack Greinke, but they made him work hard to get his outs. Consequently, his pitch count was in the 70s by the fourth inning. The Giants' only run came on Pence's home run in the second inning, which sliced into the right-field stands just out of Puig's reach.

In the same inning Ramirez exited the game, the Dodgers had a strange mix-up on the mound. Paco Rodriguez threw his warmup pitches, but was then replaced by manager Don Mattingly before facing a batter. Apparently, Mattingly had told plate umpire Gerry Davis that J.P. Howell was coming into the game.

So Howell came in and pitched a scoreless inning. Rodriguez was still eligible and pitched an inning later.

Yasiel Puig is one of the most fascinating players we've seen in a long time, for many reasons: His seven-year, $42 million contract that many believed was a huge overpay by the Dodgers, his quick rise to the big leagues, his amazing athleticism, that hot start, the controversies that he has rubbed opponents the wrong way, the reprimands from manager Don Mattingly ... what a whirlwind few months it has been for the 22-year-old Cuban.

As good as he has been at the plate -- .340/.404/.556 with 16 home runs in 87 games -- it's his play in the field that is simultaneously dynamic and frustrating. Maybe no player since the young Vladimir Guerrero has made as many great plays undermined by those that drive a manager crazy. What's the net result? We'll get there in a second.

First, let's look at some of his best and worst plays on defense. Scott Spratt of Baseball Info Solutions looked up Puig's five best and five worst plays on defense, as evaluated by BIS' Plus/Minus system, which values each play based on what percentage of similar balls were caught.

Five best plays
1. Aug. 12: Daniel Murphy lines out to Puig, who catches the ball on the warning track in deep right-center. This doesn't factor into the plus/minus system, but the play came with the bases loaded and two outs. He made this play look easy.

2. July 22: Puig jumps and crashes into the wall to rob J.P. Arencibia. Holy cow ... Puig was playing center field here. Look how far he ran. Look at the raw speed. And then the wall. Probably not the smartest play since the Dodgers were up 14-5 at the time.

3. June 23: Puig dives to catch a Pedro Ciriaco liner in the gap. Out of the way, Andre Ethier!

4. July 3: Puig catches a Nolan Arenado fly ball while crashing into the wall. This drew a visit from the training staff but he remained in the game.

5. Aug. 3: Puig robs Starlin Castro with a diving catch. As Dodgers announcer Charley Steiner said, "He's done it yet again."

As Scott pointed out, these plays don't include any of the great throws Puig has made. Like this one or this one or this one from his first game. (Puig has seven assists, fourth among NL right fielders.)

We don't have direct links for his five worst plays, but here are the descriptions.

Five worst plays
1. July 10: Cliff Pennington lines a ball that hits off Puig's glove.

2. Aug. 5: Fearing a collision with the wall, Puig pulls up, allowing a Carlos Beltran deep fly to drop.

3. Aug. 31: Puig gets turned around on Rene Rivera's fly ball that hits off the wall. (This was right before the second throw above, when Puig then threw out Rivera at home.)

4. June 24: Puig doesn't catch Buster Posey's fly ball at the wall.

5. Aug. 9: Jerry Hairston and Puig let Wil Myers' pop fly drop.

Now, those are plays Puig failed to make, which are different from the errors (he has made four) or throws to the wrong base or missing cutoff guys. There also was the Aug. 28 game against the Cubs, in which Mattingly removed Puig in the fifth inning, citing the player's effort. This story has video of Puig's effort that day, which included two catches made in the outfield where he loped after the ball.

"I talk to him like I talk to my kids, honestly," Mattingly said that day. "I try to be honest and represent the whole ballclub with the decisions I make and I feel, in a sense, it was in the best interests of the team."

As to the misplays on defense, Baseball Info Solutions tracks those as well. Puig has been credited with 25 good fielding plays and 22 defensive misplays and errors -- both are high totals (at one point a couple of weeks ago he led all outfielders in both categories since his recall), confirming the perception that he's mixing in a lot of great plays with bad plays and mistakes in judgment.

Overall, BIS gives a positive evaluation to Puig's defense, 9 Defensive Runs Saved. Other metrics, which don't have the detailed video analysis that BIS employs, are also positive: plus-8 in Total Zone, plus-3 in UZR.

In a sense, Puig is the opposite of Derek Jeter. Jeter made all the routine plays -- with the exception, of course, of a couple memorable highlights -- but rarely made the exceptional play and lacked the range of elite shortstops. But he earned a lot of praise -- and five Gold Glove Awards -- because you never saw him making mistakes.

Puig makes a lot of mistakes but also makes plays most right fielders don't. Of course, when we get to October and Puig makes a spectacular catch that maybe saves a run but then follows that up with a mental error that maybe costs the Dodgers a run, which play will be discussed and hammered the next morning?

There's no doubt Puig needs to rein in the recklessness -- that includes on the basepaths, where he has made 11 outs on the bases and is just 11-for-19 as a base stealer. Let's keep in mind he's a young player with little professional experience outside of Cuba. For some reason, there has been a trend to tear him down lately -- He showed up a few minutes late! Opponents don't like him! He showboats! The Dodgers better get him under control, or else! -- which the Dodgers aren't helping by making some of their issues with him public.

To me, the bottom line is the kid can play. If he's not a model citizen, well, he won't be the first great player who did things his own way. But let's be mindful he has been in the majors for just three months and is still learning a new culture both on and off the field. I can't wait to see what he does in October.

LOS ANGELES -- Giants general manager Brian Sabean and former manager Felipe Alou have been spotted in the Dominican Republic scouting Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu, according to Dionisio Soldevila of ESPNDeportes.

There has been speculation that Abreu could command a contract even greater than the seven-year, $42 million deal the Dodgers gave Yasiel Puig in June 2012.

Abreu, 26, batted .453 in Cuba's highest league, Serie Nacional, between 2010-11. He hit .360 in six games of the World Baseball Classic in March.

Grantland's Jonah Keri wrote last year that Abreu, "just might be the best hitter in the world."

Veteran Dodgers scout Mike Brito has seen Abreu on several occasions, including in tournaments in Nicaragua and Cuba.

"He's a good hitter, good power, below-average runner," Brito said. "We don't need a first baseman here. We have one of the best in the game."

Meanwhile, here are lineups for Thursday's game, with the Dodgers trying to take another game off their magic number, which stands at six. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said that, for the most part, he will play his regulars this weekend, though he is trying to convince Adrian Gonzalez to take a day off:

San Francisco
1. Angel Pagan CF
2. Marco Scutaro 2B
3. Brandon Belt 1B
4. Buster Posey C
5. Hunter Pence RF
6. Pablo Sandoval 3B
7. Brandon Crawford SS
8. Gregor Blanco LF
9. Matt Cain RHP

Dodgers
1. Yasiel Puig RF
2. Carl Crawford LF
3. Hanley Ramirez SS
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Andre Ethier CF
6. Juan Uribe 3B
7. A.J. Ellis C
8. Mark Ellis 2B
9. Zack Greinke RHP

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the major leagues in attendance, which is another way of saying they're back to being the Dodgers.

With seven home dates left, they have had more than 3.37 million fans buy tickets to their games. Since their dramatic uptick launched in June, those fans have provided some of the most raucous environments in baseball, helping to fuel dramatic victories.

So, yeah, the Dodgers would love to celebrate their first division crown in four seasons on their home turf this weekend, with 50,000 fans enjoying it with them, but it might take one more dramatic late surge to pull that off.

Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks guaranteed the earliest the Dodgers could clinch would be Sunday, and even that is a long shot.

The Dodgers' magic number is six. The second-place Diamondbacks don't play Thursday, and when they resume, they're taking on the Colorado Rockies, who have lost six of their past nine. The Dodgers are playing the San Francisco Giants, which is not exactly a herculean task in 2013, but the first two pitching matchups are good ones: Zack Greinke versus Matt Cain and Clayton Kershaw versus Madison Bumgarner.

If it doesn't happen by Sunday, it's sure to happen on the road. The Dodgers embark on a 10-game trip Monday in Arizona.

Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis acknowledged that celebrating at home would be sweeter than clinching somewhere else, where the party would be respectfully confined to the clubhouse.

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LOS ANGELES -- The way the Los Angeles Dodgers looked in the first two games of this series (and the way the Arizona Diamondbacks looked), they figured to be popping the corks off champagne bottles at the nearest possible date.

Make no mistake, it's still coming, but the question now is whether it will flow in Los Angeles or somewhere else. The Dodgers lost to the Diamondbacks 4-1 Wednesday night, keeping their magic number stuck at six. The earliest they can celebrate their first division title in four years is now Sunday, the final home game before a 10-game trip.

Yasiel Puig's highlights -- and one diving stop by Nick Punto -- were the only things worth reliving for Dodgers fans. Puig made a diving catch to take a hit away from Chris Owings in the sixth inning and hit a towering home run in the seventh inning, his 16th.

Puig also discarded the bat in an entertaining fashion, as he often does. He flung it aside with his left hand, dropping it dismissively as if it were too hot to hold.

The Dodgers fell in an early hole behind Hyun-Jin Ryu, pitching for the first time this month. He missed his previous start because of back tightness, and his command wasn't sharp. Arizona bunched three straight singles leading off the game and got off to a 2-0 lead. They tacked on a run in the second and, when he wasn't giving up runs, Ryu was working hard to avoid them.

Ryu gave up 10 hits, the second-highest total of his season, and struck out only one batter. To his credit, he did the best with what he had, somehow getting through six innings.

Ryu's night could have been worse, but Punto dove and stopped an Owings grounder from leaking into right field, saving a run -- at the time -- and minimizing the damage in the second inning.

The Dodgers were facing Arizona's best starting pitcher in 2012. This time Patrick Corbin (14-6) fared better than he had earlier in the year. The Dodgers scored four runs in five innings off Corbin back in June, but Corbin's slider and command were a bit too much for a lineup missing four regulars.

Manager Don Mattingly took advantage of his team's big lead -- as he had done last week in Colorado -- to rest Mark Ellis, Juan Uribe, Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier versus the lefty.

ESPN LA's Mark Saxon talks about the Dodgers postseason pitching rotation, whether Clayton Kershaw should be the MVP, and the Angels' pitching plans for next season.

Dodgers pitcher Ricky Nolasco calls in and talks about staying focused and making this playoff push. Nolasco says it's exciting to play for the team he grew up watching. Nolasco explains the story when he found out he was traded to the Dodgers.

Listen

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers selected the contract of one of their top pitching prospects, left-hander Onelki Garcia, on Wednesday, perhaps looking to see if he can give them another post-season option for their bullpen.

But, for now, Garcia's role will be to give the Dodgers another lefty who can ease the workload on Paco Rodriguez and J.P. Howell, manager Don Mattingly said.

"Hopefully, he takes a little pressure off those guys' usage and it gives him a little experience," Mattingly said. "He was coming at the end. Our guys, our scouts, were talking about him."

Garcia, 24, is a hard thrower who went 2-4 with a 2.90 ERA in 35 games combined with Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Albuquerque this season. A native of Guantanamo, Cuba, the Dodgers took him in the third round of the 2012 draft and signed him for $382,000.

Opposing hitters batted .209 off Garcia and lefties hit .149 with 30 strikeouts.
The Dodgers put Shawn Tolleson on the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster for Garcia.

Here are lineups for Wednesday night, with the Dodgers looking to trim their magic number to clinch the NL West to just four:

Arizona
1. A.J. Pollock CF
2. Willie Bloomquist LF
3. Paul Goldschmidt 1B
4. Martin Prado 3B
5. Aaron Hill 2B
6. Gerardo Parra RF
7. Chris Owings SS
8. Tuffy Gosewish C
9. Patrick Corbin LHP

Dodgers
1. Yasiel Puig RF
2. Nick Punto 2B
3. Hanley Ramirez SS
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Michael Young 3B
6. Scott Van Slyke LF
7. A.J. Ellis C
8. Skip Schumaker CF
9. Hyun-Jin Ryu LHP

LOS ANGELES -- September can make for some weird moments, when players who have scarcely been heard from jump up and affect a season at a critical moment. Who knows, maybe they'll even affect a postseason game at a critical moment.

The Los Angeles Dodgers got a little dose of that Tuesday night, when Scott Van Slyke hammered a walk-off home run to give them a 5-3 11th-inning win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. It trimmed their magic number for clinching the National League West to just six games, meaning they could be celebrating a division title as early as Saturday.

As nice as Van Slyke's shot was, two other young players who shuttled back and forth between Triple-A and the major leagues all summer could prove useful in a few weeks.

Shortstop Dee Gordon, who has had virtually no impact on this Dodgers season, could give them a dangerous pinch runner for the late innings of close games. Reliever Chris Withrow and his 98 mph fastball might come in handy, too.

Manager Don Mattingly still refuses to talk much about postseason roster possibilities until the Dodgers clinch, but he said both Gordon and Van Slyke will get long looks for a bench spot.

"One guy hits a home run, another steals a base," Mattingly said. "We'll kind of deal with those questions and throw them around upstairs and downstairs if we can get there."

Gordon could give the Dodgers another Dave Roberts nine years after Roberts stole that key base to spark the Boston Red Sox's World Series run. Gordon pinch ran for Adrian Gonzalez in the 10th inning Tuesday night, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

He stayed stuck there when Juan Uribe struck out on a 3-and-2 pitch from Josh Collmenter, but you could see how Gordon's presence on the bases distracted the Arizona reliever. The last thing a pitcher needs in a pressure-packed playoff setting is somebody that fast in his peripheral vision.

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LOS ANGELES -- Three days after the Dodgers' medical staff shut down Matt Kemp's rehab "indefinitely," because of hamstring tightness, manager Don Mattingly says he feels like Kemp still has time to join the Dodgers in time for the postseason.

"I'm starting to feel that way," Mattingly said. "It sounds like he's feeling good, so right now it's pretty positive."

Mattingly said medical reports of Kemp's progress have improved. Kemp remains in Arizona playing simulated games -- according to Mattingly, he hit four home runs in one of them Tuesday -- but the Dodgers are hoping Kemp can be back within the next 10 days or so. That way, they could evaluate whether he can help them in the playoffs.

"It's hard to judge on two games," Mattingly said. "It'd be nice to see 10-12 games."

Though Kemp is hitting, he has yet to run the bases or test his hamstring in any aggressive running program.

Here are lineups for Tuesday's game, with the Dodgers looking to take two more games off their magic number (eight):

Arizona

1. Willie Bloomquist LF
2. Adam Eaton CF
3. Paul Goldschmidt 1B
4. Martin Prado 2B
5. Miguel Montero C
6. Matt Davidson 3B
7. Gerardo Parra RF
8. Didi Gregorius SS
9. Trevor Cahill RHP

Dodgers

1. Yasiel Puig RF
2. Carl Crawford LF
3. Hanley Ramirez SS
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Andre Ethier CF
6. Juan Uribe 3B
7. A.J. Ellis C
8. Mark Ellis 2B
9. Edinson Volquez RHP

LOS ANGELES -- There is a certain no-holds-barred quality to clubhouse humor. What can appear jarring to outsiders is part of daily life on a Major League Baseball team.

So, when Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez practically force-fed Juan Uribe a banana after the second of his three home runs Monday night -- in the dugout and in front of TV cameras -- none of his teammates in the vicinity seemed to think much of it.

Puig and Ramirez have taken to calling Uribe “King Kong.” It all started a few weeks ago when Ramirez went to Universal Studios, saw a billboard of the famous Hollywood icon and posted it on Instagram, asking if fans thought it bore a resemblance to the Dodgers' third baseman.

“I don’t think I should be involved with that,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said after the Dodgers’ 8-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday. “Only they can do that.”

Uribe explained.

“They call me a monkey,” he said. “Do I look like a monkey?”

Uribe can take a joke, even one that's borderline tasteless, particularly since he is often the one dishing the grief to other players -- in two languages. Brian Wilson usually gets it in English, particularly when he walks out of the clubhouse in some bizarre outfit, which is to say, on nights that end in "y."

For Ramirez and Puig, it’s a chance to get a little revenge on a man they embrace practically as an older brother. What little brother doesn’t live for that opportunity?

If it seems as if Uribe is the team clown, though, he’s quite a bit more than that. In some ways, he’s the conscience of the clubhouse, someone who commanded respect even when he was struggling to hit .200, and he is universally beloved now that he’s playing Gold Glove defense nearly every day and chipping in with his bat. He did more than chip in Monday, launching three of the Dodgers’ six home runs.

Near the end of 2012, when Uribe was batting .191 and practically stuck to the bench, it was widely speculated the Dodgers would simply release him. They didn’t, and now they’re awfully glad they continued to believe. After the Luis Cruz flameout, the Dodgers would have been stuck without a third baseman. Instead, they have one with a better-than-solid .760 OPS and one of the steadiest gloves in baseball.

"The one thing about Juan: He always, always, always played quality third base,” Mattingly said. “The thing that opened our eyes was how good a teammate he was last year. Luis was here tearing it up and the darling of L.A. last year for a period of time, and Juan was a really good teammate. He gained a lot of respect in that clubhouse.”

Uribe admitted the curtain call he received from more than 50,000 fans Monday was an emotional moment for him.

“I always wanted to be a person who has respect and shows that I care and have a good heart,” Uribe said. “Good or bad, you still have to be the same person.”

LOS ANGELES -- After they got swept in Cincinnati over the weekend, a couple of Los Angeles Dodgers players said it might have been a good time to hit a little losing streak. Don’t peak too soon. Learn to deal with a spot of trouble. That kind of thing.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly didn’t bicker with those comments after he read them.

“It humbles you enough to know that you have to be ready to play every day,” Mattingly said Monday.

It didn’t look like humility that earned the Dodgers an 8-1 win over the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night, though. It looked more like confidence and raw strength.

The Dodgers hit six home runs, the most they've had in a game in seven seasons, with Juan Uribe going deep three times -- once more than he did all of last season -- to set the stage for a clinching celebration on their home field. The Dodgers increased their NL West lead to 12 games and reduced their magic number for clinching a postseason berth to eight. They have six games left on this homestand, two against Arizona and four against the San Francisco Giants.

It would have been hard to predict this kind of explosion, particularly since the Dodgers played three of their quietest games in months in Cincinnati.

These weren’t cheapies, either. Andre Ethier and Uribe launched back-to-back home runs leading off the second inning. Adrian Gonzalez sliced a two-run shot to left in the third. Uribe hit his second with two outs in the same inning. In the fifth, Hanley Ramirez hit a low drive that seemed to gain altitude as it flew, slamming into the center-field bleachers. Three batters later, Uribe hit another one.

He had a chance to hit his fourth in the eighth inning but swung at reliever Heath Bell’s first pitch and chopped it to Eric Chavez at third base. This was Uribe’s night, though. He beat the throw for another RBI hit.

Shawn Green, who happened to be at Dodger Stadium for a promotional event and was interviewed on the video board before the game, is the only Dodger to hit four home runs in one game. He accomplished the feat -- done 16 times in MLB history -- on May 23, 2002.

Oh, and by the way, Ricky Nolasco pitched well again. He went 6⅔ innings and allowed just three hits and one unearned run, while striking out six. Nolasco is 8-1 with a 2.07 ERA since he became a Dodger on July 6.

LOS ANGELES -- He won't say it publicly, but one of manager Don Mattingly's biggest challenges the next three weeks is balancing how much he rests his aching players with pushing for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

The issue arose Sunday when Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw told reporters in Cincinnati he still has his sights on securing the best record in the National League. With 20 games left, the Dodgers trail the Atlanta Braves by two games for that distinction.

Does it matter? Apparently not a great deal to Mattingly, who has already inserted highly unpredictable starter Edinson Volquez in his rotation for at least two turns and rested most of his starters last week in a series in Colorado. Mattingly said it "would be nice" to secure home field -- hardly a resounding rallying cry.

"Basically, you've got to win games everywhere," Mattingly said.

And, if you look at the numbers, you really can't argue. ESPN Stats & Info's Mark Simon dug into the numbers:

• Since the 2-2-1 format was adopted in the division series in 1998, teams with home-field advantage have won 30 of the 60 series.

• Since the current format was adopted in the championship series in 1996, teams with home-field advantage have won 17 of the 34 series.

Not a math whiz here, but it looks like teams have got about a 50-50 shot of winning no matter where they play.

There are exceptions, though. If the Dodgers should play the Braves in the second round and it were to go seven games, they would be better off playing four of those at home.

Atlanta, with its powerful, but strikeout-prone, lineup, has played at a .718 rate at home and a .479 rate on the road. Dodger Stadium is one of the best pitchers' parks in baseball. Turner Field has much friendlier home run fences.

Here are lineups for Monday's game with the Arizona Diamondbacks, as the Dodgers look to trim their magic number for clinching to eight:

Arizona

1. Adam Eaton CF
2. Aaron Hill 2B
3. Paul Goldschmidt 1B
4. Eric Chavez 3B
5. Martin Prado LF
6. Miguel Montero C
7. Gerardo Parra RF
8. Didi Gregorius SS
9. Randall Delgado RHP

Dodgers

1. Yasiel Puig RF
2. Carl Crawford LF
3. Hanley Ramirez SS
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Andre Ethier CF
6. Juan Uribe 3B
7. Mark Ellis 2B
8. Tim Federowicz C
9. Ricky Nolasco RHP

After the Dodgers got swept in Cincinnati, ace Clayton Kershaw took the long view.

“Overall, it’s probably a good time to lose some games, if we’re going to end up losing,” Kershaw said.

That may not go down easily for Dodgers fans, who got used to seeing their team take two of three games in a bad series for the previous 2 ½ months and sweep when they played well. But unless we see this team’s struggles bleed into another week or two, he’s got a perfectly valid point.

You don’t want to peak too soon. Get it out of the way now.

Besides, they were playing a Cincinnati team with a little more to play for, coming off a series in Colorado which manager Don Mattingly used as a relief station, resting players in shifts.

With a good week, the Dodgers can still clinch the NL West and then decide whether they want to fight for home field advantage or use the remaining couple of weeks to freshen up.
So, yeah, a 2-4 week is a major dud the way these guys have been going, but with the state of the standings, it still comes across as no biggie.

SCORING

It’s no mystery why the Dodgers hit the skids. They couldn’t score enough runs. It was as if they played the same game in Cincinnati three straight days, got a little burst of offense, put up a bunch of zeroes and waited for something bad to happen at the end.

And it did. The “bad” in this case was having to face Aroldis Chapman.

Even though the Dodgers played half their games last week at a hitting heaven, Coors Field, they batted a ho-hum .274, hit just four home runs and had a disappointing .685 OPS. They struck out more than four times as often as they walked.

They did run into some good pitchers, though, including Jhoulys Chacin, who they beat, and Homer Bailey and Mat Latos, who they did not. If there is anything to worry about from last week, it’s that Reds pitchers pretty much had their way with Dodgers hitters and that could bode ill should the teams meet again in the playoffs.

Then again, regular-season trends tend to go away in October.

Grade: C-

DEFENSE

Unless things start to go seriously sideways in the next few weeks, Edinson Volquez will not start a playoff game for the Dodgers. So, take a deep breath.

In his first chance at showing them what he could do, he showed them exactly what he had been doing for San Diego, giving up a bunch of hits and runs. What messed up the Dodgers pitching was that, after Volquez made his poor start in Colorado, Chris Capuano -- already filling in for injured Hyun-Jin Ryu -- had to leave his start with a strained groin in the second inning.

Suddenly, the bullpen was drained and the wear and tear eventually showed, as the Reds won games decided by the bullpens.

Last week, the Dodgers collectively had a 4.91 ERA. Not good by any team’s standards. Awful by the Dodgers’. Zack Greinke, Ricky Nolasco and Clayton Kershaw were fine, but not dominant, and the rest of the rotation and, even more acutely, the bullpen showed some signs of fray. They still have time to get things ship shape again.

Grade: C-

DECISION-MAKING

Michael Young (.353) had a nice week, his first with the Dodgers. Two of the other recent acquistions, Volquez (7.20 ERA) and Carlos Marmol (5.27 ERA) did not. Brian Wilson had three perfect appearances and one bad one at a crucial time.

The Dodgers have plenty of time to evaluate players’ performances and line things up for the playoff roster, but you can see the makings of one now. Volquez probably needs to pitch brilliantly against Arizona Tuesday night to have any prayer of staying with the Dodgers beyond September and he probably needs to pitch well just to merit another start.

The other three guys seem like pretty good bets to stay with the Dodgers longer.

Manager Don Mattingly took a chance resting so many players in Colorado. For one thing, it sort of stalled the Dodgers’ collective motor, setting them up to look lackluster in Cincinnati.

But it’s pretty clear what was happening. The Dodgers took advantage of the luxury of a major lead to take a step back, hopeful they can take a leap forward between now and clinching day. After that, they’ll probably rest a few more players and then try to rev up for a deep playoff run. Seems like a reasonable strategy.

Grade: B

CHEMISTRY TEST

Here’s what Mattingly told reporters after the sweep in Cincinnati: "I wasn't that excited about our focus during the first two games.”

It might be a good time for leadership from within the clubhouse, snapping everyone back to attention, because things don’t figure to get any easier. The Dodgers didn’t get back to Los Angeles until Monday morning, probably about 14 hours before their three-game series with the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks begins. We’ve already mentioned the taxed bullpen.

For two months and a week, nobody had to worry about chemistry because the Dodgers were winning 80 percent of their games. Now we get a look at the Dodgers’ grinding skills. Do they still remember how?

Grade: C

STATE OF CONTENTION

The Diamondbacks had every opportunity to finally apply a little pressure, but they didn’t. They just kind of sat there, going 3-4 against Toronto and San Francisco, hardly unbeatable opponents. So, Arizona only gained a half-game in the standings and they lost an entire week.

The Dodgers player Arizona in seven of their next 10 games. Those games haven’t felt like they would be make-or-break for a while now, but Arizona could have at least made them interesting if they had played better.

The Dodgers' magic number to clinch the West is 10 games, meaning the earliest it could happen is Friday.

Now, it seems like it’s just a matter of time before the Dodgers close this out. For them, of course, sooner is better than later. If they don't play well this week, they will undoubtedly be clinching on the road, because after Sunday, they embark on a 10-game road trip.

Grade: A-