Relying on an outstanding performance from Clayton Kershaw, inching his way closer to 3,000 strikeouts, the Dodgers didn’t even need to do much offensively to secure a fourth straight win, beating the Rockies 3-1 on Thursday to complete a sweep at Coors Field.

This recent stretch for Clayton Kershaw has the pursuit of 3,000 stealing all the headlines, but in the midst of it, the lefty has been pivotal to a somewhat beaten-down rotation. After struggling heavily in his first game back, Kershaw has been superb, and not even the difficulty of pitching in Coors Field seems to faze him at the moment.

After retiring the first five batters he faced, Kershaw was ambushed by the struggling Brenton Doyle, who got a hold of a hanging first-pitch slider and hit it out of the park to open the scoring in the scoring. That would be all the scoring and half of the hits the Rockies would get against Kershaw, who completed six terrific innings of one-run ball, striking out five.

Speaking ahead of the game, Dave Roberts even pointed out that in the event Kershaw got close to that 3,000 strikeouts mark, he was likelier to take him out early for an attempt at this milestone at Dodger Stadium than push him to get it in this game. That was exactly what happened, as the left-hander left the game with plenty of bullets in the tank, needing only 69 pitches to get through six. Even for someone with a more limited pitch count, Kershaw could’ve easily gone at least one more. If everything goes according to plan, Kershaw will take the mound again Wednesday against the White Sox at home, needing only three strikeouts to join the 3,000-K’s club.

Because this was a close game through and through, the move put the onus on the bullpen to shut things down for three, and it did exactly that. Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech navigated through some traffic to put up zeroes, and then Tanner Scott got the save.

Moving over to the scoring that led Los Angeles to this win, it was the struggling superstars who showed up to get the job done. Neither in their best moment, Mookie Betts with a sub-.500 OPS in the last 14 days, and Freddie Freeman one for his last 20, the pair combined to drive in the first two Dodger runs before Shohei Ohtani added some late insurance with a solo blast. Mookie was first involved driving in a run in the third, and then came around to score another in the fifth, driven in by Freeman.

After going seven straight home games without a homer, which might as well feel like an eternity for him, Ohtani is currently on a roll, having gone yard in three of his last four games, raising his season tally to 28.

What was set to be a clean close win for the Dodgers was missing a Rockies blunder. With one on, one out, and trailing by two in the ninth, Colorado managed to end the game in an unconventional double play. Andy Pages caught a sinking liner and threw out the runner at first, straying too far off the bag.

Thursday particulars

Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (28), Brenton Doyle (6)

WP — Clayton Kershaw (4-0): 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts

LP — Angel Chivili (1-3): ⅓ IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Sv — Tanner Scott (17): 1 IP, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers remain on the road and head to Kauffman Stadium for a three-game set against the Kansas City Royals. Dustin May and Noah Cameron will square off on Friday (5:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA).