LOS ANGELES — The momentum is at a season high right now for the Dodgers. They continue to roll, as Clayton Kershaw was as efficient as usual and the offense demolished the Brewers pitching Wednesday night.

Speaking of Kershaw, he lowered his ERA to an astounding 2.48 with his five innings of one run baseball and continued his impressive year and great return from the injured list. In his two starts since returning from injury, Kershaw has posted back to back five innings starts of allowing only one run in each, and has looked just as dominant as before the hiatus. 

The offense was back to their impressive ways, as the top of the lineup combined for eight hits in thirteen at bats to contribute to six Dodger runs against a great pitcher in Wade Miley for Milwaukee. After not having a hit in his last two games, Freddie Freeman broke out in a big way, going 2-5 with a run scored while playing impressive defense at first. His co-star Mookie Betts was also at his best, going 3-5 with a ridiculous four runs scored and a walk to raise his climbing batting average to .293. Will Smith tacked on three hits, two of which were infield hits, to go along with two RBI as well. This team just continues to crush the baseball…

Aside from Kershaw, the bullpen once again came in and shut down the opposing hitters. Brusdar Graterol, Ryan Brasier and newly called up Gus Varland cruised the Dodgers to a comfortable victory after Kershaw came out of the game. The confidence that Dave Roberts has showed in the bullpen has been evident as he is removing his starters early  and allowing the guys to get some work in for the second half of games lately. 

Here are my three takeaways:

Mookie Betts Is On Another Tear Offensively

Betts’ average is the highest it has been since April 10th, and he is now ten for his last eighteen over the past five games. We all know how good Mookie is in general, but every time it seems like he is in a slump, he breaks out in a menacing way. He is at 97 runs scored and on a 132 run pace which would break Maury Wills’ record of 130 alongside his running mate Freddie Freeman. So to recap, Mookie can play many different positions at a high level, can hit among the best in the game, and is an excellent person off the field. It seems like the Dodgers hit a home run when they acquired this superstar, and he is only getting better…

Gus Varland Makes His Dodger Debut 

Varland had a 2.16 ERA and a 4.88 K/BB ratio in Triple-A this year, with excellent pitch makeup to go with the stats. Wednesday night, Varland pitched two scoreless innings and shut down his former team in the Brewers. What is more impressive is that Varland had a dominant 9-pitch 9th inning to secure the victory, with his fastball reaching around 96 mph and a hard bite to his slider to go with it. The Dodgers just keep adding quality arms to this already successful bullpen as of late. 

Miguel Rojas Is Flexing His Power As Of Late

Rojas has been on an absolute tear with his power numbers lately, with two home runs and seven RBI in his last three games. Before this stretch, he had only one home run and seven RBI in his last 29 games combined. I knew that Rojas was not going to be as bad as his numbers suggested throughout the first half of the season, as he put up solid numbers at the plate throughout his career before rejoining the Dodgers. Now, he is showing off the offensive side of the game, much like we have seen him dazzle on the defensive side this year. 

It will be a power matchup between two veterans Thursday night as Lance Lynn takes the mound against Corbin Burnes for the Brewers. First pitch is set for 7:10 PM PST.