Dodgers still a little wobbly out of the gate

The Dodgers have stumbled out of the gate to start the 2018 season, splitting six meetings against the Giants, getting swept in a three-game set with Arizona and winning the first game of a two-game series against Oakland last night.

The Dodgers are 4-6 through the first 10 games while the Diamondbacks have jumped out to an 8-3 mark. 

On the mound, Clayton Kershaw is winless through three starts despite posting a 1.89 ERA. Closer Kenley Jansen has a 7.71 ERA in 4.2 innings of work but has started pitching to form the last few games, getting a pair of saves.

The starting rotation and the bullpen look solid, giving the Dodgers a strong crew working the mound. Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Alex Wood have thrown well, giving Dave Roberts a solid five-man rotation.

Where the Dodgers are still working out the kinks is with the bats, where Chris Taylor, Yasiel Puig and Corey Seager are barely scrapping above the Mendoza line. Justin Turner is still on the DL with a broken wrist but the recycled Matt Kemp (.308), Chase Utley (.300), Cody Bellinger (.297) and Yasmani Grandal (.321) are starting to heat up on offense.

Taylor and Seager hit back-to-back dingers to open the game against Oakland last night and Kemp went yard for his first homer of the year in a Dodgers 4-0 win. 

Ryu tossed six innings of one-hit, shutout ball to get the win last night with Tony Cingrani, Ross Stripling and Jansen preserving the shutout.

Getting back to the World Series is not going to be easy. Arizona and San Francisco have upgraded to keep the Dodgers from winning a sixth straight division title.