The Dodgers swept the visiting St.Louis Cardinals over the weekend, winning three games in a row and moving back into a first-place tie in the National League West.
It’s turning into a three-team race for the National League West Division, with those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks still in first place and those pesky San Diego Padres a game back in third place.
The Dodgers outscored the Cardinals 14-6 in the weekend series. But the most impressive game came on Saturday.
Clayton Kershaw has emerged as the ace of the staff again, tossing seven shutout innings and striking out nine in a 1-0 win.
“I think I've said it before, maybe even this year, but tonight was his best night for me (this season) as far as stuff, start to finish,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Associated Press after Kershaw’s game on Saturday. “I thought the fastball (was good), the curveball, the lateness of it was as good as I've seen it. The slider. Just the way he tunneled tonight was exceptional.”
In a year Julio Urias was expected to move into the ace role, Kershaw has shown he’s not quite ready to give that spot up.
Kershaw is not only the best pitcher on the Dodgers after the first 29 games of the season, he is also one of the best pitchers in the National League again.
He is the first National League pitcher with five wins. He won the 202nd game of his career on Saturday night. He only gave up two hits and lowered his ERA to 1.89.
It was also his fourth win in a row. He has only given up one earned run in his last three starts, a span of 20 innings.
That one run came against the Chicago Cubs last week when he pitched six innings and the Dodgers won 7-3.
In addition to leading the National League in wins, his 1.89 ERA is fourth best in the National League and his 41 strikeouts are the fifth most in the NL.
He also has five quality starts in six starts, tied for the most in the National League.
With Urias struggling and Tony Gonsolin recovering from a spring training injury, the Dodgers needed Kershaw to rise to the occasion. As he’s done through the years, Kershaw met the challenge perfectly.
While Kershaw is putting up Cy Young Award winnings numbers, Max Muncy is continuing his MVP type season.
Even though he did not play in the three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates at the beginning of the week, his 11 home runs are still the most in the National League and his 22 RBIs are the fifth most in the league.
Dodger starting pitching power rankings:
- Clayton Kershaw
- Dustin May
- Noah Syndergaard
- Julio Urias
- Tony Gonsolin
The Dodgers (16-13) start a three-game series against the reigning National League champion Philadelphia Phillies on Monday and end with a three-game weekend series against the Padres in San Diego. The Dodgers are 7-3 in the last 10 games. The Phillies won two of three games against the Houston Astros over the weekend.
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