At midway point, Dodgers putting together a strong run

Last night's 6-2 win over the Angels came on the 81st game of the season, the official halfway point of the 162-game slog that is major league baseball.

The All-Star break comes next weekend but before the festivities in Miami the Dodgers play three in San  Diego starting tonight followed by three-game sets at home against Arizona and Kansas City.

Halfway through the 2017 campaign, the Dodgers are in first place by 2.5 games over Arizona and have moved six games ahead of the Rockies.

Clayton Kershaw is 12-2 with a 2.32 ERA. Barring injury, he will win 20 games this year. Lefty Alex Wood is 8-0 with a 1.86 ERA going into tonight's game against the Padres. Brandon McCarthy (6-3), Kenta Maeda (6-3), Rich Hill (4-4) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6) round out a good pitching staff, but not better than Washington where the Nats roll out Steven Strasburg (9-2), Max Scherzer (9-5) and Geo Gonzalez (7-2).

Offensively, the Dodgers are sparked by rookie Cody Bellinger (.268, 24 HR, 56 RBI), third-sacker Justin Turner (.381, 5 HR, 28 RBI), shortstop Corey Seager (.294, 12 HR, 39 RBI), right fielder Yasiel Puig (.251, 15 HR. 42 RBI) and catcher Yasmani Grandal (.264, 10 HR, 30 RBI).

The Dodgers hit a club-record 50 homers in June with tonight's game still in play.

Bellinger has been a revelation and is a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year. Turner, who missed a stint with an injury, will lead the majors in hitting when he qualifies for number of at-bats.

The Dodgers are probably strongest in their depth, where role players Joc Pederson, Chris Taylor, Kike Hernandez, Chase Utley, Logan Forsythe and Franklin Gutierrez are all capable of taking the spotlight on a given night.

Taylor and Hernandez play regularly and are versatile enough to play multiple positions. Taylor (.273, 9 HR, 32 RBI, 10 SB) and Hernandez (.230, 8 HR, 25 RBI) give Dave Roberts options when trying to create favorable matchups.

Pederson has heated up since coming off the DL after an outfield collision with Puig and has 8 HR and 24 RBI while playing centerfield.

Then there's the pen, anchored by Kenley Jansen (4-0, 0.79 ERA, 18 out of 18 saves). Pedro Baez (1.32 ERA), Grant Dayton (3.48 ERA), Luis Avilan (3.86 ERA), Sergio Romo (5.70 ERA), Chris Hatcher (4.66 ERA) and newcomer Brandon Morrow (0.00 ERA) have contributed to a team ERA of 3.23, tops in the majors.

Despite having long-time stalwarts Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier on the shelf with injuries, the Dodgers figure to play well into October.

With the Rockies starting to fade, it looks like the NL West is going to turn into a two-team race between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks.

Dodgers rattle Rocks with three-game sweep

Coming into this weekend's series against Colorado, the Dodgers held a 1.5 game edge in the National League West where the Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Dodgers have been jockeying for first place with the Rocks holding the edge for most of the season.

Three games later, the Dodgers have swept the Rockies, hold a 2.5 game lead over Arizona and are 4.5 games on top of third-place Colorado. The Dodgers have the best record in the National League and second-best record in the major leagues after Houston in the AL West.

Here's my takeaways from the weekend:

• Though still June, this series had to dent the psyche of the Rockies, who were exposed in 6-1, 4-0 and 12-6 losses. Especially tough to swallow was tonight's loss, which Colorado led 5-0 before imploding on wild pitches that led to five runs and home runs by Cody Bellinger (2) and Kike Hernandez.
• The Dodgers have won 10 in row, 16 out of the last 17 and have completed three consecutive sweeps. They are hotter than a Las Vegas parking lot at high noon.
• Though Bellinger has emerged as a rising star with 24 homers, the Dodgers march to first place has been fueled by stellar pitching from Clayton Kershaw (11-2), Alex Wood (8-0), Brandon McCarthy (6-3),  Rich Hill (4-3) and a solid bullpen anchored by Kenley Jansen (18 saves).
• Role players like Chris Taylor, Kike Hernandez, Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Austin Barnes and Logan Forsythe have made huge contributions, giving the Dodgers pop from the one through eight slots in the batting order. Case in point is Puig, who often bats seventh or eighth in the batting order. He has 14 home runs and 41 RBI.

There is still a lot of baseball to play this season. However, for now, the Dodgers are the hottest team in the majors.

It's a wild, wild west in MLB

The National League West is where the best baseball is being played in the major leagues. Other than the Houston Astros in the American League West, the NL West has the three best records in the major leagues with Los Angeles, Colorado and Arizona bunched near the top of the division.

The Dodgers edged into a half-game lead over the Rockies with their 8-2 win over the Mets last night and Arizona's 16-5 pounding of Colorado.

Buckle your seat belts because the race for the NL West flag promises to be a good one.

The Dodgers appear to have the edge in pitching with a major league low 3.36 ERA. The Dodgers have a strong pen anchored by closer Kenley Jansen and their starting rotation is relatively solid with Clayton Kershaw (10-2, 2.61 ERA), Alex Wood (7-0, 1.90 ERA), Brandon McCarthy (6-3, 2.87 ERA), Rich Hill (4-3, 4.73 ERA), Kenta Maeda (5-3, 4.70 ERA) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6, 4.35 ERA).

Maeda and Ryu have struggled, moving from spot starts and bullpen assignments. It would appear that Kershaw, Wood, McCarthy and Hill are the top four in the rotation with Maeda and Ryu fifth starter options for Dave Roberts.

With the bats, the Dodgers have been flexing some power of late, smashing home runs at a record pace. Rookie Cody Bellinger has gone yard 22 times and Corey Seager (12) and Yasiel Puig (10) have joined in the fun.

Justin Turner leads the offense with a .390 batting average. Bellinger (49), Puig (40) and Seager (38) have driven in the most runs.

Colorado is getting offense from Nolan Arenado (.302, 15 HR, 59 RBI), Charlie Blackmon (.324, 15 HR, 54 RBI) and Matt Reynolds (.301, 18 HR, 56 RBI) with Kyle Freeland (8-4, 3.42 ERA) and rookie Antonio Senzatela (9-2, 4.10 ERA) doing the work on the mound.

In Arizona, the Diamondbacks are led by Paul Goldschmidt (.329, 17 HR, 60 RBI), Jake Lamb (.287, 16 HR, 61 RBI) and David Peralta .332, 7 HR, 21 RBI). From the hill, Zack Greinke (8-4, 3.14 ERA) and Taijuan Walker (6-3, 3.43 ERA) are the mainstays.

If the second half of the season is similar to the first, the National League West will produce two playoff teams with one team winning the division and another in a Wild Card slot.

Bellinger belongs to another era

Dodgers' rookie Cody Bellinger hit two home runs tonight, pacing Los Angeles to a 7-5 win over Cleveland and putting the Dodgers into a first place tie with Colorado.

Bellinger's offensive explosion backed up a seven-inning, six-hit, two-run performance by Clayton Kershaw, improving his record to 9-2 on a night when he didn't have his best stuff.

Bellinger's second dinger was his 17th. He is making a serious case to be Rookie of the Year, an honor that went to shortstop Corey Seager a year ago.

Bellinger, at 6-4 and 210, is long and lean and moves gracefully. He reminds me of Joe DiMaggio, a Yankee great from another era.

Bellinger wears his hat with a slight tip to one side and when I see images of him in the dugout he reminds me of the players from the old days.

Bellinger seems out of place in 2017, except for when he takes the field. His sweet, arcing swing is reminiscent of DiMaggio, though the Yankee great hit from the right side.

If the rookie from Arizona keeps this up the comparisons to the greats of the game will expand to his performance between the lines and not just his appearance.

Clayton Kershaw and memories of Little League

Clayton Kershaw pitched a gem against the Nationals yesterday, going seven strong innings and giving up only one run on three hits.

The Dodgers won 2-1 to avoid a sweep by Washington. Kershaw wasn't happy Dave Roberts pulled him after seven frames -- he wanted to go out and pitch the eighth.

Watching him protest in the dugout reminded me of when I lived in the Miami area and rooted for the Dolphins and always hated the fact that Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl. He was one of the best to ever play the game but the Dolphins couldn't get back to the promised land after his rookie season.

That's how I feel about Kershaw. He's acknowledged as the best in the game. The Dodgers have sniffed around at the World Series but haven't been able to close the deal.

They figure to contend again this year, but who knows.

When I was 11 and 12 years old I pitched for the Bell Gardens Little League All-Stars and for two years in a row we faced Downey in the first round of an extended tournament that ended in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Both years, I was scheduled to pitch the second game of the tournament. Randy Evans was easily the best pitcher in the league and for two years in a row I played the outfield and prayed we would play a second game.

It never happened. Downey beat us both years. The closest I came to pitching was when the manager had me warm up with our catcher, Dean Arzoian, who was a boyhood pal and a teammate on the Pirates.

I have always loved baseball and the sheer joy I had playing in Little League, Senior League and a little in high school before my heart turned to writing about the game rather than playing it.

What I would give to go back in time and face Downey in a second game of the tournament.

Dodgers find magic two nights in a row

If this continues, the Dodgers will have to start wearing top hats, tuxedos and have pretty assistants on stage and rabbits in a hat.

The magic show they have put on the last two nights has stunned the crowd in Milwaukee but left the Los Angeles faithful begging for an encore.

On Friday, Yasmani Grandal jacked a home run to right field in the ninth inning to tie the game at 1-1 and rookie Cody Bellinger launched the eventual game-winning home run to right as the Dodgers downed the Brewers 2-1 in 14 innings.

But that was only the warm up act.

Tonight, the Dodgers scored five times in the ninth inning to stun Milwaukee 10-8 with most of the damage coming from a line drive grand slam by Chris Taylor, the 25-year old utility player acquired last year from Seattle.

Taylor, who had only one home run in his brief major league career, has hit six this year as a reserve with  two of his dingers coming with the bases loaded.

Like most Dodger fans, I clicked off on the telecast when Milwaukee went up 8-4 on grand slam by Travis Shaw and a solo shot by Hernan Perez in the seventh inning.

I should have known better.

The Dodgers scored once in the 8th when Taylor doubled down the right field line, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground ball by Yasiel Puig.

In the ninth, fortune smiled on the Dodgers when Corey Seager walked and reached second when Milwaukee first baseman Jesus Aguilar tried to force him at second on a ground ball from Grandal. Aguilar's throw hit Seager in the back and the Dodgers had runners at first and second with one out.

Austin Barnes then rifled a single to left and Bellinger drew a walk, forcing in a run and making the score 8-6.

Taylor then lined a 2-2 pitch to straight away center field off Carlos Torres and the Dodger magic show had extended one more night.