Dodgers back in the race

After sleepwalking through April and May, the Dodgers have come alive this summer. On May 10, the Dodgers opened a four-game series at Chavez Ravine against the Cincinnati Reds.

Cincy swept the four-game set and the Dodgers looked like toast. On May 15^th and 16^th the Dodgers lost to Miami on the road, extending the losing streak to six games and the word on the street was that Dave Roberts was in trouble.

But in the May 17, get-away game in Miami, the Dodgers posted a 7-0 win and headed to Washington to face the Nationals.

Despite facing Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, the Dodgers managed to sweep three from the Nats and hope started peeking around the corner.

Then the first-place Rockies came to L.A. and the Dodgers took three out of four after losing the opener, 2-1.

Next up, the Dodgers took two of three from San Diego at home and split a four-game series with Philadelphia to end the month of May.

From May 10-31 the Dodgers went 10-10 but were starting to once again resemble the defending National League champions.

The Dodgers started the month of June in Colorado and the mountain air agreed with them. The Dodgers put up 33 runs in three games to sweep the Rocks and suddenly the NL West was looking like a race.

The Dodgers then took two out of three against the Pirates and two out of three against the Braves in Chavez Ravine.

The Dodgers open a two-game set against Texas tonight in L.A. The Dodgers are 7-2 in the month of June and are 19-13 since May 10. Arizona, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Colorado are all bunched up in the NL West standings with the D-Backs holding a three-game edge over L.A. and a 3.5 game lead over the Giants.

Amazingly, the Dodgers have fought their way back into the race with Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Walker Buehler and Justin Turner all fighting injuries.

Ross Stripling has emerged as the ace of the staff and Roberts has been patching together a starting rotation with duct tape and baling wire. On more than one occasion Roberts has rolled out a bullpen staff with different relievers pitching an inning or two to get to Kenley Jansen in the late innings.

The offensive star for the Dodgers has been Atlanta castoff Matt Kemp, who returned to the Dodgers in super hero fashion. Kemp is hitting .338 with 10 dingers and 41 RBI and is among the top three outfielders in All-Star voting. All this from a guy the Dodgers tried to move after picking him up for salary reasons in the offseason.

Other hot hitters have been Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson and Yasmani Grandal. Muncy has gone yard 12 times, Bellinger 12 times, and Grandal 11 times. Pederson has hit seven dingers and raised his average to .275. Yasiel Puig has shown flashes of brilliance, hitting seven dingers and hitting at a .260 clip.