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LOS ANGELES -- When Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for his next start Thursday in the opening round of the NL Division Series, he’ll have that same youthful-looking appearance.

He’ll just be a completely different-looking pitcher.

Kershaw has evolved into one of the top hurlers in baseball, proving so once again Friday night while throwing six shutout innings in an 11-0 victory against the visiting Colorado Rockies.

Kershaw improved to 16-9, but the stat that’ll likely stand out for years to come is his ERA. He dropped that mark to 1.83, the lowest in the major leagues since Pedro Martinez posted a 1.74 as a member of the Boston Red Sox in 2000, and the lowest by a southpaw since Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees in 1978 (1.74).

Kershaw also became the first pitcher since Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves (1993-95) to lead the majors in ERA for three consecutive seasons and just the second member of the Dodgers to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA. Sandy Koufax accomplished that feat three times in the 1960s.

The Dodgers made things easy on Kershaw by scoring four runs in the first, another in the third and three more in the fourth on Carl Crawford’s three-run blast. Kershaw had a hand in that, too, singling with one out before Crawford launched his sixth home run of the season.

Adrian Gonzalez and A.J. Ellis also homered for the Dodgers, and Juan Uribe had three hits and two RBIs.

Kershaw showed he was on his game right from the start, striking out Charlie Blackmon on three pitches to open the game. He twice struck out soon-to-be-retired first baseman Todd Helton. Kershaw allowed four hits among his 82 pitches, struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter.

Of course, the Dodgers can’t seem to take two steps forward without taking one back this season. Yasiel Puig left the game in the top of the sixth after fouling a pitch off his left foot for the second time in the game. He returned to the batter’s box and hit the next pitch in the air to right field, limping noticeably as he jogged to first.

The injury brought back memories of the last weekend series at Dodger Stadium, when the hosts lost Puig, fellow outfielders Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford and shortstop Hanley Ramirez to injuries. Ethier remains sidelined with a lower left leg injury.

The other downside Friday night was the St. Louis Cardinals' beating the Chicago Cubs, assuring the Dodgers of a road game Thursday when they open the playoffs against either the Cardinals or Atlanta Braves.

But on this night, once again, it was all about Kershaw.

“He’s still the same kid who was tough and worked hard and was hard-headed, in a sense, with his stuff, but he’s come so far from the standpoint of his willingness to get better,” said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, who played five seasons with Guidry in New York.

Kershaw didn’t hold runners on base very well when he first joined the Dodgers. Now he does. He had only two pitches in his arsenal, a fastball and a curve, but has since added a slider and changeup. He dominated just one side of the plate. Now he owns both corners. He’s even become a better hitter.

“He has just evolved,” Mattingly said. “He’s a total different matchup for you as a hitter than he used to be. This is obviously the same guy, the same person, but you probably wouldn’t recognize him if you looked at the games he pitched then versus now.”

Kershaw was a wide-eyed 20-year-old when he made his first postseason appearance five years ago, pitching two innings of relief in a five-game loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Championship Series. He returned to the postseason the following year and made three starts before the Dodgers were again cut down in the NLCS.

Four years later, Kershaw gets another shot at winning a World Series. Just getting to the playoffs is no longer good enough.

“Nobody remembers second place,” Kershaw said. “Nobody remembers who won the American League or who won the National League, they remember who won the World Series. So getting to the playoffs is nice, it’s definitely a huge accomplishment, but at the end of the day, unless you win the whole thing, no one remembers.”

SAN DIEGO -- Before the Los Angeles Dodgers took the field Saturday night to face the San Diego Padres, manager Don Mattingly gathered his players in the clubhouse for an impromptu meeting.

He didn't have a particularly long or motivational speech prepared. He simply outlined where the Dodgers are and what they have to do during the final games of the regular season before the playoffs start.

"They all know where we're at," Mattingly said. "It's about where we're going, not about where we've been."

Where the Dodgers are going will actually have a lot to do with how they play over the final week of the regular season. Despite clinching the NL West and their first playoff berth since 2009 on Thursday, the Dodgers still have no idea who they will play when the playoffs start and, more important, where they will be to open the postseason.

After Saturday's 4-0 win over the Padres, the Dodgers are tied in the overall NL standings with the Pittsburgh Pirates, one game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals and 2½ games back of the Atlanta Braves.

It would be natural to assume the Dodgers are still eyeing to claim the best record in the National League and home-field advantage in the playoffs, but the truth is they are more concerned about going into the playoffs healthy and rested.

"We feel like we can win anywhere," Mattingly said. "We feel like we can win on the road, but you want to be healthy. I would also like to be at home. I would much rather have home-field advantage but do I want home-field advantage and not have Hanley [Ramirez] or Adrian [Gonzalez] in the lineup? No. The priority is I'm going to try to get these guys as healthy as I can and keep them sharp."

The Dodgers have certainly been a strong road team this season. They have the best road record in the National League and the second-best road record overall. They won a franchise-record 15 consecutive road games this summer and celebrated clinching the division on the road by celebrating in the Arizona Diamondbacks' pool.

So Mattingly is more than comfortable taking his team on the road to open the postseason as long as his team is healthy.

"We're going to play, we're going to keep playing," Mattingly said. "But not at the risk of [playing someone hurt]. When medical says Hanley is a little tight, I'm not going to use him. We're going to be more safe than sorry later."

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SAN DIEGO -- The old adage in football is you take 24 hours to enjoy a big win before moving on to the next game. That's not really possible in baseball in which the daily grind of the regular season forces you back on the field for the next game within hours of the final out of the last game.

Don Mattingly, however, made sure the Los Angeles Dodgers had at least 24 hours to savor clinching the NL West before moving on to the rest of the regular season and attempting to secure home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Mattingly's lineup Saturday for the Dodgers' 4-0 win over the San Diego Padres returned to normalcy one night after he went with a lineup more reminiscent of a spring training game in Friday's 2-0 loss to the Padres.

"We want to win every day and we want to have home-field advantage, but we've been at this for close to 200 games when you count spring training," Mattingly said. "It's one of those where you felt like these guys needed to sit there and enjoy that and now we have more work to do and we're going back to work."

The Dodgers didn't waste any time getting back to work with Clayton Kershaw on the mound. The Cy Young favorite pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only three hits and striking out 10. With one start left in the season, Kershaw owns a 1.88 ERA and will likely be the first Dodger since Sandy Koufax to end a season with a sub-2.00 ERA.

A.J. Ellis, who hit the winning home run to clinch the division in Arizona, hit a two-run homer to left in the fourth inning Saturday to get the Dodgers on the board first and score all the runs they'd really need with Kershaw starting.

Yasiel Puig put the game away with a two-run blast in the seventh inning that could have easily landed in the Gaslamp Quarter. Puig's home run was calculated at 457 feet, making it the second-longest home run in Petco Park history. The first was a 458-foot home run by Adrian Gonzalez in 2009. The two friends and teammates will no doubt be debating that one foot for a while.

Mattingly will now go into the final seven games of the regular season not only looking to gain home-field advantage but also shore up any issues the Dodgers might have heading into the playoffs.

"One of our goals coming out of spring training was to win the division and set ourselves up where we could do what we're doing," Mattingly said. "We also wanted to set our pitching up the way we want it. We've at least accomplished that much of it. It's now an opportunity for us to touch on some other things. This is a great opportunity for us."

PHOENIX -- It was an unusual division title-winning season. It started with a gradual descent followed by a massive, unrelenting climb before culminating in a short, late-season dip. But in the end, the Los Angeles Dodgers found themselves right where they expected to be all along.

They're the National League West champions, and they have designs on grander goals than that.

The Dodgers became the first team in baseball to clinch a playoff spot with their wild 7-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Thursday afternoon.

After closer Kenley Jansen got Aaron Hill to fly out to left field, the Dodgers streamed onto the field. Jansen and catcher A.J. Ellis were locked in a bear hug when Clayton Kershaw leaped onto Jansen's back. Players began putting on gray T-shirts that read, "We own the West."

The team formed a scrum, which gravitated to the second-base area before the Dodgers took their celebration inside to the clubhouse.

Ellis, in a deep hitting slump entering the game, hit the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning.

Hanley Ramirez is making a pretty good argument that he's the Dodgers' MVP, presuming you don't think a starting pitcher enters the discussion. The problem has been keeping him on the field. He largely was the Dodgers' offense Thursday, hammering a pair of home runs and driving in four.

Ramirez has hit 20 home runs while playing in just 81 games, his season hampered by thumb, hamstring and, lately, back issues. He was pulled in the ninth inning after appearing to pull up after running hard to first base trying to leg out an infield single.

It looked as if the Dodgers might walk into the playoffs when Ramirez hit his first home run, a three-run shot, into the left-field stands in the third inning. After the Dodgers had bumbled about for two weeks trying to get this division clinched, it seemed to ease the pressure in the dugout.

But Ricky Nolasco came unhinged in the third inning, giving up six runs on seven rapid-fire hits. With the Dodgers' bullpen a bit ragged after Stephen Fife's short start the night before, Don Mattingly left Nolasco out there and he managed to get through two more scoreless innings to give the Dodgers hope of a rally.

Yasiel Puig continued his beginner's-mistake-a-day tour getting a bad read on Jerry Hairston Jr.'s bloop to right field before Ramirez's home run. What would have gone for a base hit became a fielder's choice when Gerardo Parra easily threw Puig out at second. Afterward, Hairston was captured on camera yelling and gesturing in Puig's direction. Adrian Gonzalez later was seen in the dugout with his arm around Puig talking to him.

That's OK. The Dodgers have exactly two weeks to work out any issues before they play another game that matters.

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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Ron Karkovice was a first-round draft pick and a highly touted defensive catcher, but for much of his career he was stuck behind Carlton Fisk. It wasn’t until Karkovice was 28 years old (and Fisk was 44) that he finally got an opportunity to be the Chicago White Sox starting catcher.

Fisk, it has been said, was none too eager to foster Karkovice’s improvement. Such a dynamic is common in major-league clubhouses, with veterans typically wary of losing their jobs to younger talent.

The Dodgers have tried to pre-empt such an issue on their team by asking A.J. Ellis to help Tim Federowicz along.

“That’s one thing we’ve been talking about, that his job partially is to bring Fed up,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “Really, we’re asking him, ‘Train Fed to take your job and then fight him off.’"

Ellis, 32, has been the Dodgers’ primary catcher for the past two seasons. Federowicz, 25, is in his first full season.

Ellis’ catcher’s ERA of 3.10 is the best in the majors, tied with his former teammate Russell Martin of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Federowicz, without the luxury of catching Clayton Kershaw when Ellis is healthy, isn’t far behind with a CERA of 3.49. He has become the personal catcher for Ricky Nolasco, who has been one of the hottest starters in the league.

Ellis said he is just returning a favor.

“I wouldn’t be the major-league catcher I am without the help of Brad Ausmus,” Ellis said. “I latched onto him and he mentored me on how to become a major-league catcher, how you need to handle yourself and how you need to prepare and what your main priority is.”

Eleven of Federowicz’s 35 starts have come since Aug. 1 and his emergence (he’s also batting .333 in his last 16 games) has allowed Ellis to get more rest than he did a year ago, when he fell into a major batting slump in September. Ellis admitted in 2012 that he had begun to wear down mentally. That should be less of a problem down the stretch this season.

DENVER -- Remember the last time the Los Angeles Dodgers played a series against a playoff contender? They had the Boston Red Sox in town and, even though it came in the middle of one of the greatest runs in franchise history, manager Don Mattingly was a little miffed after they lost two of three.

"If we're going to get where we want to go, those are the kinds of teams we're going to have to beat," Mattingly said. "It gives you a little barometer of what kind of baseball you need to play to win."

Fans in L.A. might not want to hear about barometers right now given the heat, but the Dodgers will get to check another one this weekend in Cincinnati. They'll be playing against a team they might well meet again in the playoffs, a team desperately trying to scramble for better postseason position.

It could feel a little more intense than these last few series -- against the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies.

"We're definitely playing against one of the best teams in the National League and one of the most potent lineups out there, so we have to come to play, in their ballpark especially," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "It will be a tough weekend for us, so we have to be ready to go from the first pitch on Friday."

So, all these little experiments and days of rest in Colorado are over for a while. The Dodgers are scheduled to fly from Denver, where they played three listless games against the Rockies with spring training-caliber lineups, and arrive in Cincinnati on Thursday for a three-game weekend series.

The fun and games will be over for a while.

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DENVER -- It's hard to know what the Los Angeles Dodgers learned about their newest pitcher Wednesday night.

On one hand, Edinson Volquez looked very similar to the pitcher who had a 6.01 ERA for the San Diego Padres before the Dodgers salvaged him from the scrap heap of August free agency. On the other hand, the Dodgers won't run into the Colorado Rockies in the playoffs.

Volquez made his first start as a Dodger and lasted just four innings in a 7-5 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field.

Even by the standards of this stadium, it was ugly. In the first two innings, Rockies batters collectively hit for the cycle. Todd Helton hit a majestic, soaring home run to right. Josh Rutledge tripled to center field, the ball short-hopping a wall that's 415 feet from home plate. Troy Tulowitzki pounded a double off the top of the left-field wall.

It's not often a pitcher performs as poorly against one opponent as Volquez has against Colorado this season. He actually lowered his season ERA versus Colorado, from 13.08 to 12.43, though his record fell to 0-5 in six starts.

The Dodgers didn't get much out of Wednesday's game, but they did see one of their best players, Yasiel Puig, get back on the field after sitting out a couple of games because of a sore knee. Puig pinch hit in the eighth inning and struck out against Manny Corpas.

Most of the Dodgers' main players watched most of it from afar.

In spring training, teams are supposed to field lineups with at least four regulars. The Dodgers might have run afoul of MLB with the squad they trotted out Wednesday evening. Hanley Ramirez, A.J. Ellis and Juan Uribe were the only regulars starting, with the rest of the usual starters getting a night off.

Manager Don Mattingly fielded a similar lineup and the Dodgers won on Tuesday, but this one didn't generate much action. Jorge De La Rosa had the Dodgers off balance and, when they got things going, something unraveled it. Scott Van Slyke hit into a double play with the bases loaded in the sixth.

Another new guy, Carlos Marmol, also didn't help his chances of sticking with the Dodgers when they align their playoff bullpen. Marmol gave up three hits and three runs in the seventh inning. It was a spring training-like inning. A ball from the outfield caromed off the mound for an error. Marmol committed a balk to let in a run. In his previous 10 appearances, Marmol had been unscored upon.

On the bright side, Michael Young has looked like a nice pickup, albeit in just two games. Young had three hits, including two RBIs, and is 4-for-9 since coming to the Dodgers in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their roll, but the man most often credited for starting it left the game with an injury.

Yasiel Puig was lifted after he hurt his right knee sliding into third base in the sixth inning of the Dodgers’ 10-8 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday at Coors Field. He briefly stayed in the game and scored a run, but was replaced by Skip Schumaker when the Dodgers went out to play the field.

The Dodgers described the injury as a mild strain and Puig's status is viewed as day to day. He has tended to return quickly from minor injuries this season.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers won again and they now lead the Arizona Diamondbacks by 12½ games, their largest division lead since September of 1977.

Their magic number for clinching the National League West is now just 14. The race has now become for the best record in the NL and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They trail the Atlanta Braves by two games for that spot.

The Dodgers won despite allowing 18 hits largely thanks to double plays. Ronald Belisario got a big one from Michael Cuddyer to keep the tying run from scoring in the eighth inning.

Meanwhile, as Matt Kemp continues to languish in his minor league rehab assignment, Andre Ethier is cementing his case for a starting center-field job regardless of Kemp’s health. Ethier launched a two-run home run off reliever Jeff Manship in the sixth inning, finally giving the Dodgers a quasi-comfortable lead in a typical Coors Field event.

Clayton Kershaw had pitched well at Coors Field this season, but like a lot of pitchers, it has never been his favorite place to work. He came into Monday’s start with a 4.98 ERA pitching at mile-high elevation.

That number got a bit worse after one of the shakiest starts of Kershaw’s career. He gave up 11 hits in five innings and allowed five runs. When the Dodgers rallied to take a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning, Kershaw gave the lead right back and it could have been worse if not for some loud outs in the inning. Nolan Arenado had an RBI double and Jordan Pacheco singled home Arenado.

The 11 hits were the most Kershaw had ever allowed.

The Rockies took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but the Dodgers had action in their half of the inning. Puig interfered with second baseman DJ LeMahieu while trying to field an Adrian Gonzalez grounder and that cost the Dodgers a run. The next inning, LeMahieu leaped to snare a Puig liner that started an inning-ending double play.

 

LOS ANGELES -- To understand just how well Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke has pitched lately, turn the calendar back to 2009, when he won the American League Cy Young Award with the Kansas City Royals.

Greinke went 16-8 with a major league-leading 2.16 ERA that season, beating out Justin Verlander, Roy Halladay, CC Sabathia and Felix Hernandez for the honors.

Greinke said he’s pitching even better lately.

Few could argue after watching Greinke breeze through seven innings Sunday against the San Diego Padres, allowing one run and two hits while striking out seven in the 2-1 victory.

Greinke won his sixth consecutive decision to improve to 14-3 and trimmed his ERA to 2.78. It marked the fourth time this season that he has allowed two hits or less while working at least seven innings.

Greinke was asked after the game if he’s pitching better than he did in 2009. When it comes to throwing the ball where he wants, definitely, he said.

“It’s probably the best location I’ve had for a long period of time,” he said.

Greinke began Sunday’s game by breaking the bat of leadoff hitter Will Venable. He then broke Alexi Amarista’s bat on a groundout to second. He retired the first seven hitters before experiencing his only hiccup, giving up two walks and an RBI single in the third inning.

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MIAMI -- It's a sign of the baseball times here in Miami -- and the early start to Thursday’s game didn't help -- that it took so much promotion to draw such a sparse crowd to the park to watch Clayton Kershaw’s latest gem.

But for $5 and whatever it costs to park nearby, you could see the National League’s leader in just about every pitching category do what he’s been doing all year. He shut out the Marlins over eight strong innings to lead the Dodgers to a breezy 6-0 win in the final game of this four-game series.

The Marlins managed just five hits off the Dodgers' ace as he pitched into the eighth inning for the 12th time this season and lowered his ERA to a major league-best 1.72. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only four pitchers since 1980 have posted an ERA as low as Kershaw’s at least 25 starts into the season (Dwight Gooden, 1985; Greg Maddux, 1994, 1995, 1998; Roger Clemens, 1997, 2005; and Pedro Martinez, 1997, 2000).

“He kind of gets himself into routines and he’s just marching onward all the time. One start’s over and he’s on to the next one. That one’s over and it’s time to start the next process,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of Kershaw.

“What I enjoy with Clayton is that it’s every pitch, every batter, no matter what the score is, he attacks, he’s focused, he’s not wanting to make one bad pitch, not wanting to let any runners on. He just wants to execute, execute, execute. That’s tough to do over a long season. He’s a machine.”

Kershaw also helped his cause at the plate, driving in the first run of the game in the fourth inning with a two-out, bases-loaded single to left to score Yasiel Puig, who doubled to lead off the inning. The next batter, Carl Crawford, drove in two runs to stake Kershaw to an early 3-0 lead. The Dodgers tacked on two more runs with two outs in the fifth on an RBI double by A.J. Ellis and an RBI single by Skip Schumaker.

Puig was back in the lineup Thursday and batting cleanup after experiencing dehydration and cramping in his legs Wednesday night. Mattingly said Puig received IV fluids after the game Wednesday.

Kershaw was so dominant, it finally gave Mattingly a comfortable spot to bring on former Giants closer Brian Wilson for his Dodgers debut with a six-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. Wilson struck out the first batter he faced, Giancarlo Stanton, got Logan Morrison to ground out to second base, gave up a double to pinch hitter Greg Dobbs, and struck out Justin Ruggiano to end the game.

The Dodgers return home to open a three-game set with the Boston Red Sox beginning Friday. L.A. has gone a major league-best 28-5 since the All-Star break and has won 22 of its past 25 road games.

LOS ANGELES -- Somebody asked Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly after Tuesday night's 4-2 win over the New York Mets how tough it will be to take Nick Punto out of his lineup Wednesday.

"It's pretty easy, honestly," Mattingly said.

Punto might be batting .458 in his last nine games -- including his big two-run double off Matt Harvey on Tuesday -- but he was just keeping the spot warm for Hanley Ramirez, who might have been the most dangerous hitter alive for about a month before he jammed his shoulder chasing a foul popup.

Those words, spoken about a different player, at a different time, could have furrowed some brows, maybe even stirred a bit of tension between the manager and a player. Punto's not that guy, and this is not that moment.

And Punto's used to the grief. A few days ago, he had to hear about teammate Skip Schumaker comparing him to actor Danny DeVito because of his squat build. Then, the Dodgers took it to another level when they arranged for an on-field meeting between DeVito and Punto before Monday's game.

After Punto's home run, the video board showed DeVito, who turned around and pointed to his No. 7 Punto jersey.

Punto and fellow veteran Juan Uribe seem to come in for the most grief around these guys. The Dodgers have been letting Uribe have it ever since Evan Longoria got him with the hidden-ball trick Saturday. Somebody with the Dodgers talked the kid who ran onto the field with Uribe before Tuesday's game into tagging him with his autographed ball.

"There are a lot of characters in this clubhouse," Punto said. "There's a lot of ribbing that goes on, all day long."

If the Dodgers were still losing the way they were back in April, May and June, "characters" might not have been the first word on the tip of everybody's tongues. Goofballs? Screw-ups? It's a lot easier to get away with all this slapstick stuff when you play .830 baseball for nearly two months.

No Dodgers team has ever stayed on a roll quite this long. The last team in baseball to be this hot for as long as 47 games was the 1951 New York Giants. Those Giants probably had a good time, too, even without the joys of Twitter.

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LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers are on one of those rolls in which nothing -- not even simple logic -- can slow them down.

With an injury-riddled lineup playing against one of the most intimidating pitchers in baseball, the Dodgers beat the New York Mets 4-2 Tuesday night for their seventh straight win.

The numbers are becoming staggering. The Dodgers are undefeated in their past 16 series. They have won 39 of their past 47 games. They're the first team since the 1951 New York Giants to win at such a high percentage over a 47-game stretch.

And the how is becoming as interesting as the what.

There aren't many mismatches more glaring than Matt Harvey versus Nick Punto, the National League's second-most dominant starting pitcher against the 5-foot-9 career utility guy, who turns 36 in November.

The way the Dodgers are going, they win the unfavorable matchups as frequently as they win those in their favor.

The Dodgers weren't making much headway against Harvey, but he also wasn't dominating them by the time Punto came up with runners on in the fifth inning. Aside from the first inning, they were hitting balls hard, just to the wrong places. Harvey got double plays to escape trouble in the second, third and fourth innings.

The Dodgers finally made something stick in that fifth, after A.J. Ellis walked and Juan Uribe singled. Punto slapped a ball into the left-field corner, scoring Ellis easily and, after Eric Young Jr. had to retrieve it deep in the corner, Uribe lumbered home.

Punto has been filling in for slugging shortstop Hanley Ramirez (and batting .450 in his stead) for the past nine games, over which the Dodgers have gone 8-1. They also played Tuesday without Andre Ethier, who met with a doctor about his tight left calf.

Ellis, who ranks second on the Dodgers with 42 RBIs, later singled up the middle to drive in two more runs against Harvey.

It wouldn't have mattered if Hyun-Jin Ryu hadn't pitched as well as he did. Things started off slowly. Juan Lagares homered and Daniel Murphy lined a single to left. But Ryu got rolling after that. His only real challenge was a two-on, one-out jam in the fourth, but he got Justin Turner to pop up and John Buck to ground out to end it.

LOS ANGELES -- The day before Clayton Kershaw took the mound Sunday night, he sat down for a conversation with ESPN's Orel Hershiser.

The two iconic Dodgers pitchers discussed the mechanics and mentality of pitching, but Hershiser shifted gears and asked Kershaw about the Dodgers' dramatic midseason turnaround. Kershaw discussed a few factors, then got around to Zack Greinke.

"He's pitching, basically, spring training games during the season, and he's competing, getting guys out," Kershaw said, "and now he's got his stuff to where he wants it, and he's dominant."

That makes two of them.

In the list of far-from-ideal circumstances major league teams can get themselves into, the Tampa Bay Rays -- as solid a team as there is -- stumbled into a good one this weekend. They blew a six-run, seventh-inning lead Friday, then had to face Greinke and Kershaw, two of the past eight Cy Young winners on earth, in back-to-back games.

There's fighting your way uphill and then there's getting to base camp on K-2. This was some high-altitude degree of difficulty. As the Dodgers get closer to making the question how far they can go in the playoffs, not whether they can get there, it is their greatest asset, the scariest weapon.

The night after Greinke pitched into the seventh inning without giving up a run, Kershaw pitched around four Dodgers errors -- three by shortstop Dee Gordon -- in an 8-2 win over the Rays on Sunday. He pitched eight innings, giving up three hits and striking out eight, though he almost surely could have finished it if manager Don Mattingly hadn't been concerned about keeping his pitch count in the 100 range -- likely mindful of a postseason run.

Kershaw is big on saying nothing affects him -- not the attention, not the paltry run support and not the defense behind him -- but he's not immune to all of it, according to those who know him.

"I just have a good feeling whenever he's on the mound, and then put him on a national stage [on ESPN] and let him pitch in front of all his peers. That matters to him," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "He had an edge about him today that was fun to be a part of."

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ST. LOUIS -- As much as the Los Angeles Dodgers want to pretend this series was just another series, and the end of a long two-city, eight-game trip, it was more than that.

The St. Louis Cardinals are not just any other team, and Busch Stadium has not been just any other ballpark for the Dodgers.

Thursday's 5-1 win gave the Dodgers only their second series win at Busch Stadium over the past decade. In fact, before Wednesday's 13-4 blowout win, the Dodgers were just 9-24 over the past 10 seasons in St. Louis.

The Dodgers know they're a good team, but nothing drove home the fact that they are a legitimate World Series contender now more than their 3-1 series win over St. Louis this week.

"This is a good team," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said before the game. "We came into St. Louis knowing this is a good club over there. That's a team that's won a world championship a couple years ago and was one game away from getting there last year. We see their lineup. They're a team that hits with men in scoring position, they score runs and they have good, young position players. You don't come here and mess around or you get your butt beat."

Hyun-Jin Ryu claimed his 11th win of the season, pitching seven innings and giving up five hits and one run, while striking out seven. Ryu now has 22 strikeouts and one walk in his past three starts. Ryu made the start Thursday night with five days rest and is now 6-0 on the season with five days rest.

Adrian Gonzalez got things started in the third inning with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Carl Crawford. A.J. Ellis then homered to left to score Gonzalez and Andre Ethier. Jerry Hairston Jr. put the finishing touches on the win when he singled to center to score Ellis.

No one has benefited more from the trip than Crawford, who started the game 2-for-2 and was 13-for-31 (.419) with six singles and two doubles in the eight games.

Yasiel Puig, who batted .480 on the trip, was 3-for-5 and now has 26 multihit games this season, which places him second on the team despite playing in just 57 games.

Before the game, Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp were working out and eyeing their returns, with Ramirez slated to come back next week and Kemp projected to come back this month. The question now is, Where will Kemp play if Puig, Crawford and Ethier are playing well and the Dodgers are winning with that trio in the outfield?

The Dodgers have now won 34 of their past 42 games, their best 42-game stretch since 1953, and have won 17 of their past 18 road games. They now head home for a three-game series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays with a 5½-game lead atop the NL West. Not bad for a team that was 12 games under .500 and in last place in their division on June 21.

"I don't think it's that complicated," Mattingly said. "We're getting good pitching. Our defense has been shored up. We were a bad defensive club for a while, which had a lot to do with playing guys all over the diamond, but we were able to put guys where they were supposed to be, our utility guys become utility guys and the extra guys become guys that play now and then. We just kind of got solid."