PHOENIX -- After a strong start to August, Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers are sputtering as the calendar turns to September.

In the big picture, Los Angeles still has a 17-game lead in the National League West, with a magic number of nine to clinch the division. Kershaw is still having another terrific season. It would take a historic collapse for the left-hander and the Dodgers to not be in the postseason.

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However, Saturday’s 6-5 loss to Arizona at Chase Field marked Los Angeles’ sixth defeat in its last nine games. Although the Dodgers won a series vs. the Padres during that stretch, they’ve dropped sets to the Yankees and D-backs, who have taken the first three games of this weekend series.

“The way that we play the games, play 27 outs, that hasn’t changed,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s just figuring out a way to win some baseball games.”

Typically, Kershaw helps the Dodgers do just that. But of late, the left-handed ace has struggled to keep the ball in the park. He gave up back-to-back homers to Christian Walker and Wilmer Flores in the fourth inning, and he’s allowed eight long balls over his last three starts.

Kershaw has matched a career high with 23 homers allowed, and there’s still a month of the season to go. With more home runs being hit across the Majors, that’s not too surprising. But Roberts said there’s still a way for pitchers to not give up homers.

“Across the board, homers are up, but the bottom line is, if you execute and you make pitches, the ball’s going to stay in the ballpark more times than not,” Roberts said. “I think mistakes out over or elevated certainly are more magnified these days, the last couple years, this year in particular.”

In his previous two outings, Kershaw gave up three home runs in each, but all six were solo homers and accounted for the only runs he allowed. This time, he allowed a season-high five earned runs, which included a go-ahead, two-run double by Nick Ahmed in the fifth.

“I left a few pitches in the middle again, and I gave up some homers,” Kershaw said. “They hit mistakes, and they did a good job of it.”

Kershaw pitched a season-low five innings, marking the first time he didn’t complete six this year. It was his first non-quality start since June 29.

For the third straight game, Los Angeles took an early lead. Justin Turner and Will Smith hit solo homers in the third and fourth, respectively, raising the Dodgers’ 2019 home run total to 234, one shy of the single-season franchise record set last year.

But entering the ninth, the Dodgers trailed, 6-4. They made it interesting at the end, loading the bases with no outs and scoring a run when Matt Beaty grounded into a double play. However, D-backs right-hander Archie Bradley got pinch-hitter Russell Martin to ground out to end the game.

Sunday marks the beginning of September, a month that should feature a clinching celebration for the Dodgers. They’ll just need to move past this rough stretch in order to get there.

For Kershaw, that shouldn’t be a problem.

“I can’t even remember yesterday hardly, so I don’t really think of it,” Kershaw said. “Momentum’s a weird thing in baseball.”