Kershaw will try to salvage series finale

Baseball seasons, like our lives, have ebbs and flows.

Coming off a series win against the Angels, the Dodgers went into Milwaukee this weekend and promptly dropped the first two games of the series.

The only saving grace in the losses was the fact that San Francisco was likewise losing against Kansas City, allowing the Dodgers to maintain a 3.5 game edge in the NL West.

The Dodgers look to ace lefty Clayton Kershaw to stop the bleeding today when he goes up against rookie Jimmy Nelson.

Kershaw (13-2) has a 1.82 ERA and an even  better 1.01 ERA over his last 10 starts. He hasn't lost since May 28. Kershaw had a rough early few innings in his last start against the Angels but rebounded to shut down the cross town rivals the rest of the game.

The Dodgers will be without shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who is expected to go to the DL with an oblique injury. Ramirez, when healthy, wields one of the most dangerous bats in baseball. Sadly, he has not been healthy for a full season in recent years.

A bright note for the Dodgers has been the hitting of Adrian Gonzalez the last two games. Gonzalez went yard in both games and might be breaking out of a slump that saw his batting average drop into the .250 range.

After today's matchup against the Brewers the Dodgers head to Atlanta for a four-game set with the Braves. Atlanta is still smarting from a three-game series sweep at the hands of the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine last week and will be seeking retribution.