No dog days for this club: Dodgers run August record to 10-1

LOS ANGELES -- Over the last decade, the Dodgers have usually shown the ability to find an extra gear and stack up wins at some point in the regular season.

The 2023 Dodgers are showing they’re no different and they’re making quite the statement since the calendar turned to August.

With a 6-1 win over the Rockies on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles is playing some of its best baseball of the season, winning six in a row and 10 of the last 11. Thanks to the recent surge, the Dodgers sit 23 games over .500 and have a tight grip on the National League West standings, ending the night 7 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Giants.

“We’re taking care of business,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “There’s a lot of playoff teams still in it and they’re kind of duking it out, jockeying for position. And because we’re winning baseball games, there’s certainly some more separation."

There have been a few things that have stood out during the team’s impressive start to August. The first, of course, has been the contributions from the five players acquired before the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline.

Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough has allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings and has fit in perfectly. Amed Rosario has been really solid defensively and has thrived against left-handed pitching. Joe Kelly has been stellar in limited appearances and Kiké Hernández has also made an impact as a superutility man.

But perhaps the most important move of all was Lance Lynn, who had a third consecutive solid start since joining the Dodgers, allowing just one unearned run and striking out nine over five innings. In the three starts since joining the Dodgers, Lynn is 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA.

“It’s exciting,” Lynn said of pitching for the Dodgers. “This season [now] has a rebirth for me. I’m excited and really enjoying my time. I’m doing everything I can to help the team win.

With Lynn in the fold, Julio Urías getting back into form and the return of Clayton Kershaw on Thursday, the Dodgers’ pitching staff has started to shine, something that was missing earlier in the season.

Since the start of August, the Dodgers have allowed two or fewer runs in six of the 11 games they’ve played. Over the last three games, the Dodgers have allowed just two runs combined.

If the Dodgers continue to pitch at that level moving forward, they’re going to be tough for any team to beat given the way the offense has performed all season long.

For the second consecutive night, the offense was quiet to start the game, but they were able to use contributions from just about everyone in the lineup to separate themselves in the late innings.

In the third inning, the Dodgers took an early lead on a Freddie Freeman RBI single. But it wasn’t until the sixth that the Dodgers came up with timely hits and took advantage of shaky Colorado defense en route to a four-run frame.

“Right now we’re in that mode of we just know how to win, and we’re finding ways to win baseball games,” Roberts said. “Whether it’s a great pitching performance or a big hit late or pouring it on offensively. It’s nice that every night ultimately we feel like we’re going to score more runs than the other team.”