LOS ANGELES – Clayton Kershaw is the sure thing.
His win-loss record might not reflect it, but the Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander is as automatic as a pitcher can be. He's the sun setting in the west, as certain as afternoon gridlock and summer heat.
When he's on, Kershaw is virtually untouchable. On Sunday evening, in front of another sellout at Dodger Stadium, he kept the Dodgers humming along. And at the pace they're going, it seems as if there's no looking back.
"It was a vintage Clayton game," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "He had an edge about him. It was fun to be a part of."
How could it not be?
The Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-2 to complete a weekend sweep, won their fifth game in a row, improved their record to 20-3 since the All-Star break and extended their lead in the National League West to a robust 7-1/2 games over second-place Arizona.
"I don't know if surprised is the best word, but you rattle off a streak like we're on, it's probably a little more than luck," Kershaw said. "We're a pretty good team right now, and it's a lot of fun coming to the yard every day and winning games. But you can't get too caught up on it."
Kershaw pitched eight innings, gave up just three hits and one unearned run and even delivered a two-run single in the second inning. His record is 11-7, but it hardly reflects the kind of season he's enjoying.
In 24 starts, Kershaw has held the opposition to one earned run or less 14 times. In his past nine starts, he has given up as many as three runs just once, and Sunday's 102-pitch outing trimmed his earned run average from 1.91 to a major-league-low 1.88.
"It seems like all the stats go off the charts with Clayton," manager Don Mattingly said. "He's so consistent that you don't worry about him in a game like that. He's going to try and make every pitch and get every out.
"That's his kind of game. He just keeps pushing. That's his whole personality, to continue forward all the time."
Kershaw's record is more the result of inefficient run support. Entering the game, the Dodgers were scoring an average of 3.2 runs per game in his starts, the third-worst mark in the majors. They had scored two runs or fewer 13 times when he started.
But he helped himself with his two-run single, and the Dodgers backed him with 14 hits, including three by second baseman Mark Ellis, who hit a two-run homer in the sixth. A three-error game by shortstop Dee Gordon was just a footnote by the end of the night.
"It doesn't really change your approach," Kershaw said of the big cushion he received, "but you've got to be more cognizant, I guess, of pounding the strike zone. That doesn't really change whether it's 0-0 or 8-0. It just looks worse when you walk guys when it's 8-0."
The Dodgers now are 37-8 in their past 45 games, the best stretch in the National League since the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers had the same record over the same span of games.
It would be understandable if there were some measure of surprise over their turnaround – from 12 games under .500 on June 21 to 17 games over today – but they are finally acknowledging this fact: They're among the best teams in baseball.
