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LOS ANGELES -- Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies began to take on a spring training feel, with starting pitchers piggy-backing each other's outings, with Triple-A players all over the field in the final innings and nobody seeming too worked up about the result.

When you can afford to play like that in Game 162, you’re usually in pretty good shape.

The meaningful action came in the middle of the game, when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs to sew up the National League’s top seed, locking in the Dodgers’ first-round playoff opponent: the Atlanta Braves.

The Dodgers went 2-5 against the Braves this season. They got swept in a three-game series in Atlanta and split a four-game series at home, but both of those series came during the Dodgers’ dark days, when they were beset with injuries, and only die-hard Dodger fans had ever heard of Yasiel Puig.

One of the things the Dodgers will begin to find out Thursday, when they open the National League Division Series at Turner Field, will be whether their sluggish September will impact their hopes of playing deep into October.

The season ended with a whimper, with the Dodgers scoring two runs the past two games against the team with the worst ERA in the National League.

That reflected a longer-term slowdown. The Dodgers were the hottest team in baseball until they got swept in a three-game series in Cincinnati. After Sept. 5, the Dodgers went 9-14 to end their season. In many of those games, manager Don Mattingly rested more than one of his everyday position players, cognizant of a big division lead and the fragility of his team’s health.

Hyun-Jin Ryu allowed two runs Sunday, somehow working around eight hits, in four innings and finished his rookie season with an even 3.00 ERA. He will pitch Game 3 of the Dodgers’ first-round playoff series at Dodger Stadium next Sunday.

Much of Sunday was about auditions and brush-up work. Ricky Nolasco, who figures to be the Dodgers' Game 4 starter, if they need one, pitched a scoreless inning. So did Chris Capuano, who is bidding to latch onto a job as a reliever coming off a groin injury.

It was a good season for the Dodgers' box office. Sunday was the 29th sellout, the team announced, the most at Dodger Stadium since 1983. They drew 3,743,527 fans on the season, best in baseball.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers will take it down to the wire before deciding whether outfielder Andre Ethier will be healthy enough to make their first-round playoff roster.

Ethier will work out Tuesday morning at Dodger Stadium, where he will be evaluated for whether he’s sound enough to play in the National League Division Series. He has been dealing with soreness in his left shin for more than two weeks and has had just one at-bat since Sept. 13, a pinch-hitting appearance in which he struck out.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he is open to the possibility of carrying Ethier strictly as a pinch hitter, but not if he can’t run the bases.

“I would rather lean toward letting him play, but I could lean either way and it doesn’t really matter,” Mattingly said. “We have to see what he can do.”

Matt Kemp also missed his second straight game with ankle soreness, but Mattingly said he is confident Kemp will be able to play Thursday.

* Reliever Paco Rodriguez traveled to Arizona for the birth of his first child, but will be back in plenty of time for the Dodgers’ Tuesday charter flight to whichever city they begin the playoffs.

* Two pitchers who figure to get work Sunday: Chris Capuano and Kenley Jansen. The Dodgers are contemplating keeping Capuano on the roster as a third left-handed reliever. Jansen hasn’t pitched since Tuesday.

Here are lineups for Sunday’s season finale, also the last career game for Todd Helton, who has announced his retirement:

Rockies

1. Charlie Blackmon CF
2. Josh Rutledge 2B
3. Todd Helton 1B
4. Troy Tulowitzki SS
5. Michael Cuddyer RF
6. Nolan Arenado 3B
7. Charlie Culberson LF
8. Jordan Pacheco C
9. Jeff Francis LHP

Dodgers

1. Yasiel Puig RF
2. Carl Crawford LF
3. Michael Young SS
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Mark Ellis 2B
6. Juan Uribe 3B
7. A.J. Ellis C
8. Skip Schumaker CF
9. Hyun-Jin Ryu LHP

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-

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.

DENVER – Hyun-Jin Ryu has been scratched from Friday’s scheduled start in Cincinnati because of back stiffness and will be replaced by Chris Capuano, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.

The Dodgers are hoping Ryu can return to pitch Tuesday or Wednesday of next week against Arizona. Mattingly said he doesn't anticipate the injury being a long-term one.

"We're not really concerned," Mattingly said. "Again, we're just being cautious, but no matter what the separation was [in the standings] right now, he wouldn't be pitching Friday. We would make sure he was right before he went out there."

Ryu slid awkwardly into home plate while scoring a run in Friday's game, which may have contributed to the injury. He threw in the bullpen before Tuesday's game and still felt tightness.

Ryu, a Rookie of the Year candidate who signed with the Dodgers in December after pitching in South Korea, is 13-5 with a 3.02 ERA. Capuano is 4-7 with a 4.50 ERA in 21 games.

* Yasiel Puig was not in the starting lineup for a second straight game because of soreness in his upper right calf. Mattingly says he expects Puig to play Friday night and that he could pinch hit Wednesday.

* Matt Kemp had 13 at-bats in a simulated game in Arizona and Mattingly said he went 5-for-9 with four walks. Then again, there were no fielders, so that's kind of open to interpretation. Kemp is on the disabled list because of a sprained left ankle. He will stay in Arizona through the end of the week and won't re-join the Dodgers until at least Monday.

Here are lineups for Wednesday's game in Colorado, with four more regulars getting a day off:

Dodgers

1. Jerry Hairston Jr. LF
2. Nick Punto 2B
3. Hanley Ramirez SS
4. Michael Young 1B
5. Scott Van Slyke RF
6. A.J. Ellis C
7. Juan Uribe 3B
8. Skip Schumaker CF
9. Edinson Volquez RHP

Rockies

1. Dexter Fowler CF
2. Josh Rutledge 2B
3. Troy Tulowitzki SS
4. Michael Cuddyer RF
5. Wilin Rosario C
6. Todd Helton 1B
7. Nolan Arenado 3B
8. Charlie Blackmon LF
9. Jorge De La Rosa LHP

DENVER – Tuesday might be remembered as the day the Dodgers eased their foot off the gas pedal.

Yasiel Puig told the Dodgers he could play Tuesday, one day after tweaking a sore right knee, but he was held out of the lineup anyway for caution’s sake and might also miss Wednesday’s game. Hanley Ramirez got the day off, too, as did A.J. Ellis and Juan Uribe.

Wednesday, Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford and perhaps Adrian Gonzalez will get days off, manager Don Mattingly indicated. Edinson Volquez will make a spot start (despite an 8.39 career ERA at Coors Field) to give the team’s pitchers extra rest.

It’s not that the Dodgers aren’t interested in catching the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the National League and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. It’s just that they view getting their players rested and healthy for the postseason as the bigger imperative.

The fact that they’re able to begin the process nearly a month from the start of the playoffs could be a huge edge. The Dodgers went into Tuesday’s game with a 12 ½ game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks, their magic number to clinch the West just 14 games.

“If there was a game separating us or we were a game back, I think we’d do it differently, but you have to use common sense,” Mattingly said. “But still, when I write that lineup today, I expect to win.”

Here are the rest of the lineups for Tuesday’s game vs. the Colorado Rockies:

Los Angeles

1. Carl Crawford LF
2. Nick Punto SS
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Michael Young 3B
5. Andre Ethier CF
6. Mark Ellis 2B
7. Skip Schumaker RF
8. Tim Federowicz C
9. Ricky Nolasco RHP

Rockies

1. Dexter Fowler CF
2. DJ LeMahieu 2B
3. Troy Tulowitzki SS
4. Michael Cuddyer RF
5. Wilin Rosario C
6. Todd Helton 1B
7. Nolan Arenado 3B
8. Charlie Blackmon LF
9. Jhoulys Chacin RHP

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.

 

MIAMI -- The Cincinnati Reds had to endure the one-two punch, as did the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Next up, the Miami Marlins, the team that has scored the fewest runs in the National League (by a fairly healthy margin). Good luck, Miami. They get to experience the joys of dealing with Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw in back-to-back games.

Of all the dazzling positives the Dodgers have shown during this stretch of .811 baseball that has now lasted exactly two months, the one that figures to have the most direct impact on their October hopes is the quite distinct, quite competent pairing at the top of their rotation.

Greinke toys with an opposing lineup and then Kershaw simply attacks it. The Dodgers and Cardinals are the only teams in the National League with two starting pitchers who have sub-3.00 ERAs. The Dodgers are the only team in baseball with three.

Greinke (12-3) lowered his ERA to 2.91 with eight dominant innings in the Dodgers' 4-1 win at Marlins Park on Wednesday night. Kershaw gets the Thursday afternoon game. What makes the Marlins' task even harder is that they have to try to get their bats going with different people swinging them.

The combination of a power right-hander like Greinke and a power left-hander like Kershaw forces opposing managers to shuffle their lineups to try to get better -- or, perhaps, the term is "less-unfavorable" -- matchups.

When Greinke stood at a podium at Dodger Stadium last Dec. 11 for his introductory news conference, this is the kind of synergy everyone envisioned.

"Kershaw is on such another level that, if you try to do better than him, you get your feelings hurt pretty much," Greinke said. "I just try to be consistent, make good pitches. I've had some breaks really."

When someone suggested Greinke has been on a better run lately than in his 2009 Cy Young season, he said, "I think that's bad information." By the same token, to attribute his pitching to "breaks" is probably overly humble. In his last three starts, he has given up one run. In those starts, hitters are batting .190 against him.

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LOS ANGELES -- Considering the Los Angeles Dodgers have already played 94 games, it's inaccurate to say they finished off the first half with Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

All they did was polish off some last-minute work before going on vacation. Frankly, it looked as if the Dodgers' hitters mentally checked out for the All-Star break three days prematurely.

Until Adrian Gonzalez's fifth-inning RBI single, the Dodgers had scored one run in their previous 22 innings -- against Juan Nicasio, Tyler Chatwood and Jhoulys Chacin.

Not exactly a ringing finale, splitting a four-game series at home despite big crowds. But the Dodgers built up enough momentum before it that it shouldn't leave a lasting mark.

The newest Dodger, Ricky Nolasco, who grew up about 40 miles east of Dodger Stadium, had a vocal contingent of supporters in the stands and came to the mound to some soulful ranchera music, courtesy of Vicente Fernandez. Nolasco has made it clear how excited he was to be out of Miami and pitching for his hometown team.

His first home start wasn't particularly memorable, however. Michael Cuddyer got him with an RBI single in the first inning and a two-run home run in the fifth, Nolasco's last inning.

The Dodgers had some action late in the game, sparked by -- who else -- Yasiel Puig. He came into the game to pinch-hit for Nolasco in the fifth inning and sparked the Dodgers' only rally with a one-out single.

The Dodgers got two runners on with one out the following inning, but Jerry Hairston Jr. took a called third strike and Puig popped up. The good news: Puig seemed to be running well, a good sign the soreness in his left hip is clearing up.

LOS ANGELES -- Somebody asked Don Mattingly if he felt Saturday's game was in hand going into the final inning, his team clinging to a 1-0 lead behind an absolutely dominant Zack Greinke.

"No, not really," Mattingly admitted.

So, Mattingly got a little affirmation. He approached Greinke on the bench to see how the right-hander felt before he went out for the ninth inning and, specifically, how he felt about possibly facing Carlos Gonzalez -- and his 25 home runs -- just as his body began to grow weary.

Mattingly had the option of turning to closer Kenley Jansen, who's on a roll, and Greinke was the first batter up in the bottom of the eighth.

"He's like, 'I got him,'" Mattingly said, "So, I knew he was pretty good."

Greinke isn't just a good pitcher, he's a streaky pitcher and -- like a lot of things in this rapidly improving Dodgers season -- his fortunes appear to be on a rapid ascent. Saturday's 1-0 shutout of the Colorado Rockies, in which he gave up only two hits and struck out nine batters in 110 crisp pitches, was only the latest evidence.

Greinke (8-2) has pitched 16 consecutive scoreless innings, just a few shy of the 19 straight Clayton Kershaw rattled off to start the season. For the first time, he's giving Dodgers fans a glimpse into his Cy Young potential, though the front office has been clearly convinced for a while, considering they agreed to pay him $147 million over the next six seasons.

He's 5-0 with a 2.17 ERA at Dodger Stadium.

"Just lucky and hot right now," Greinke said.

For the record, he was talking about his .367 hitting. The pitching goes a bit beyond luck, of course. Greinke made a little mechanical adjustment before his previous start, and that, coupled with improved strength as his injury-delayed season moves along, has given him extra snap on his pitches. His fastball is touching the mid-90s, with movement, and his slider can be devastating.

"There's a difference between a guy throwing 93 [mph] to the zone and 93 through the zone," Mattingly said.

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LOS ANGELES -- Zack Greinke had been pretty blunt when people asked him why he struggled at times in May and June: He wasn't throwing as hard as he typically does. That’s not surprising, considering he missed five weeks after fracturing his collarbone in a fight with Carlos Quentin.

Saturday may have been the day he got his good fastball back, and it helped him continue his hot pitching. He used a lively repertoire to attack hitters, breezing through nine innings and striking out nine batters in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 1-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

It was a bit of a throwback game on the night the Dodgers aired the movie "42," about Jackie Robinson -- game time was 2 hours, 17 minutes.

Greinke struck out Dexter Fowler on a 95 mph tailing fastball to end the sixth inning. Earlier in the season, he was working with a 90 to 93 mph fastball.

He has pitched 16 consecutive scoreless innings.

Unlike Clayton Kershaw, Greinke has been able to rely on steady run support as he won each of his previous four starts. When he left those games, the Dodgers had scored an average of 5½ runs for him.

On Saturday, he didn't have as much room to operate -- in fact, he had barely any -- but he maneuvered just fine. The Rockies didn't get a baserunner until Todd Helton's one-out single in the fifth inning. Nobody reached second until Josh Rutledge stole it in the eighth inning.

The Dodgers hitters didn't do much against Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood, a former Angel whose career appeared to be adrift until this season. Chatwood breezed through eight innings, with the Dodgers managing just four hits. They scored a run in the first inning after Skip Schumaker's leadoff double and a Hanley Ramirez RBI groundout.

LOS ANGELES -- Take it for what it's worth, but one veteran scout who has been following the Dodgers lately said a clear pattern has emerged for pitching to Yasiel Puig. According to the scout, pitchers who are able to follow it have had a relatively easy time pitching to him.

It boils down to pitching him up and in, then "climbing the ladder," in baseball jargon. No major revelation there. Puig has long arms and loves to hit low pitches or fastballs outside the other way. He's an extremely aggressive hitter, swinging at 55.7 percent of pitches he sees, 10 percent above the league average.

"Start at the belt and work your way up," the scout said. "He can't lay off."

What's unclear is how much Puig's nagging hip injury -- he was held out of Saturday's lineup because of it -- has contributed to his diminishing production. Before his hip collided with the wall in Colorado, Puig had a 1.218 OPS. Since then, it's .614.

Carl Crawford also missed a second straight game with lower-back stiffness. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said both players are available as pinch hitters.

Here are lineups for Saturday's game vs. Colorado:

Colorado
1. Dexter Fowler CF
2. DJ LeMahieu 2B
3. Carlos Gonzalez LF
4. Michael Cuddyer RF
5. Todd Helton 1B
6. Nolan Arenado 3B
7. Yorvit Torrealba C
8. Jonathan Herrera SS
9. Tyler Chatwood RHP

Dodgers
1. Skip Schumaker RF
2. Mark Ellis 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Hanley Ramirez SS
5. Andre Ethier CF
6. A.J. Ellis C
7. Jerry Hairston Jr. LF
8. Juan Uribe 3B
9. Zack Greinke RHP

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers' winning streak came to an end after five games. Clayton Kershaw's ended at two.

The Dodgers' ace got off to a rough start before settling in, but it wouldn't have mattered even if he had been masterful, because the offense finally cooled off in a 3-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

It was just the Dodgers' fourth loss in their past 20 games, but it was costly nonetheless with two games left until the All-Star break. They dropped a game to the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks, slipping to 2 1/2 out in the National League West.

For the second night in a row, Yasiel Puig had to leave the game because of a nagging hip injury he picked up in a collision with an outfield wall July 3. Puig exited the game -- after jogging slowly to first base on a couple of groundouts -- in the fourth inning. The Dodgers called the move precautionary.

Kershaw (8-6) was hit surprisingly hard early, with the first two Rockies picking up hits and Colorado scoring two runs in the first inning. He looked like himself after that, piling up eight of his 10 strikeouts between the second and fifth innings.

Run support was his primary deficiency during a four-start losing streak from June 5 to June 21. But the Dodgers scored 12 runs combined while he was in the game in his previous two starts, and, predictably, he made them stand up.

His next outing figures to come in Tuesday's All-Star Game in New York.

The Dodgers couldn't gain any headway on Colorado starter Juan Nicasio and his lively fastball. Their opportunities were scant, and the few times they moved a runner into scoring position, he stayed put. The biggest chance came after Hanley Ramirez's one-out double in the fourth. Andre Ethier hit a deep fly ball to left, and A.J. Ellis popped up.

Teams get hot. Teams get cold.

What the Dodgers have been doing the past few weeks appears to be more than just the tide coming in before the inevitable waning. It appears to be sustainable.

The additions, in the past month-plus, of Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp have made their lineup treacherous terrain for opposing pitchers. Their pitching doesn't look as top-heavy since the addition of Ricky Nolasco. Fielding remains an issue, but it's less of an issue when you're scoring seven runs a game than when you're scoring three.

The Dodgers won series in Colorado and San Francisco last week. If they can win one in Arizona this week, they will be on a trajectory to make some serious noise after the All-Star break.

SCORING

It's not all about Puig any more. The Cuban phenom had kind of a topsy-turvy week, batting .308 but striking out 11 times in 28 plate appearances.

The fact the Dodgers scored an average of 6.5 runs per game speaks to their newfound balance. What he has done, coupled with what Ramirez and Kemp have added, seems to have energized the rest of the lineup, probably by relieving pressure. Carl Crawford, once he settles in, should bring a spark at the top of the lineup.

Juan Uribe drove in seven runs in one game, for crying out loud. This hot hitting has truly become infectious.

The Dodgers still rank 14th in the National League in runs scored, but if they can keep their main players healthy for once, they figure to steadily climb the ranks in the second half. As evidenced by Puig's week, hitters cool off. But the Dodgers appear to have enough depth to avoid prolonged freezes.

Grade: A

DEFENSE

One of the reasons this upturn looks legitimate is the Dodgers don't appear to be playing at maximum capacity. For example, what happens when Zack Greinke starts pitching better and Nolasco bumps the highly erratic Chris Capuano from the rotation? What happens if the hard throwers at the back of the bullpen get it together all at once?

It's perfectly reasonable to suggest that the Dodgers' pitching will improve in the coming weeks and months.

The Dodgers allowed an average of six runs per game last week, but those numbers were skewed by another rough Greinke outing (he has a 5.40 ERA in his last four starts) and by another poor outing by Capuano in Colorado.

The Dodgers have the most errors in the National League. It's probably about time to admit they're just not a very good fielding team. Their shortstop, Ramirez, is built like a right fielder and often plays shortstop like one. They've had no stability in center field. Their second baseman, Mark Ellis, and third baseman, Uribe, have lost range as they've aged. They're just going to have to make the plays they can make and play around it when they don't.

Grade: C+

DECISION-MAKING

The reason the Dodgers were able to beat out other teams for Nolasco is they were willing to take on all of his remaining 2013 salary, about $5 million. They couldn't care less how they got him.

They landed a pitcher who looks like he can finally stabilize the back of the rotation, a guy who has pitched more than 112 innings already and rarely walks anybody.

In exchange they gave up some aging minor-league relievers and a hard-throwing prospect who has been stuck on the slow train.

The final piece: They also got $197,000 in relief from the limits on international signings (did anyone know you could even acquire such things?). Coupled with the Carlos Marmol trade, they've now added $400,000 to spend on players across the globe. It might take years, but that could prove to be the most valuable piece. It just takes one Miguel Cabrera or Pedro Martinez.

Nobody's really talking about Don Mattingly any more and, given the tone of the discussion earlier this season, that is a good thing for him.

Grade: A-

GRIT-METER

The Colorado Rockies must be the nicest guys in baseball. At least, that's the way it seems since they're the only team in the NL West the Dodgers don't seem to have bad blood with.

They've had ugly brawls with the San Diego Padres and Diamondbacks and, Sunday, some ill will surfaced with the Giants. The Dodgers admitted to reporters they weren't thrilled with the way Sergio Romo celebrated his save on Saturday and Puig punctuated their ninth-inning rally with a bat flip following his leadoff single on Sunday.

Pretty mild stuff, thankfully, compared to the Arizona and San Diego incidents, but the Dodgers have made it pretty clear they're not willing to be seen as well-paid pushovers.

Grade: B

STATE OF CONTENTION

The Dodgers couldn't do anything about the fact the Diamondbacks have won five games in a row, but they can now. They're in Arizona for their most pivotal series of the season (at least until the next one).

Since Tuesday, the Dodgers have actually lost two games in the standings while going 3-2, but they've kept the Rockies and Giants stuck on miserable and solidified their position in second place. Being 4 1/2 games out isn't ideal, but it beats 9 1/2 out. Plus, they've got momentum on their side, at long last.

Grade: C+