LOS ANGELES _ As Dave Roberts spoke with reporters Wednesday afternoon, the Los Angeles Dodgers had played 15 games this season. They had 147 to play, and yet the Dodgers' manager actually used the words "must win."
In just about any other context, you would suspect the Dodgers had gone into panic mode.
With a loss, the Dodgers would have fallen four games out of first place, with yet another discouraging defeat on a night the enemy did nothing scarier than put a man who threw left-handed on the pitching mound.
But Wednesday was not just any other day. It was Kershaw Day.
"There's more focus, not to say that should be right or wrong," Roberts said. "There's more intensity.
"April 19th, you don't want to say you're in a must-win mode, but I do believe, when your ace takes the mound it's a must-win game."
And win the Dodgers did, with Clayton Kershaw surviving a shaky start _ at least by his extraordinary standards _ to deliver a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
In his last 11 home starts, Kershaw is 10-0 with a 0.65 earned-run average, six walks and 96 strikeouts. So, yeah, must win.
The latest lineup configuration against left-handers worked well enough. Scott Van Slyke hit a home run, leadoff batter Enrique Hernandez doubled and tripled, and infielder Chris Taylor _ recalled from triple-A Oklahoma City earlier in the day _ doubled twice.
In his seven innings Wednesday, Kershaw gave up two runs, walking one and striking out 10. The Dodgers needed three relievers for the eighth inning _ Luis Avilan, Sergio Romo and Kenley Jansen _ with Jansen finishing the game. He earned his second consecutive four-out save.
The Dodgers have a .500 record, broken down thusly: 3-1 when Kershaw starts, 5-7 when he does not.
He has worked at least seven innings in three of his four starts. No other Dodgers starter has worked seven innings even once.
Kershaw, so meticulous in his routine, was forced to wait to throw his first pitches.
As the game was about to begin, Rockies starter Tyler Anderson walked out of the right-field bullpen, down the first-base line and into the Colorado dugout.
Kershaw walked the first batter, Charlie Blackmon _ just the second walk Kershaw has issued this season.
DJ LeMahieu followed with a single, and so did Nolan Arenado, and the Rockies had the bases loaded with none out.
Kershaw then reverted to his usual form. He struck out two of the next three batters, with a sacrifice fly in between. The Rockies had a run, but they would not get another hit until the fifth inning.
And by the time Kershaw took the mound in the sixth, the Dodgers had rewarded him with a 4-1 lead.
Taylor opened the bottom of the fifth with a double, and Anderson misplayed Kershaw's bunt, so the Dodgers had runners at the corners with none out. Hernandez doubled home one run, Corey Seager singled home another, and Adrian Gonzalez added an RBI groundout later in the inning.
The Rockies got their second run off Kershaw in the sixth inning, on a double by LeMahieu and an RBI single by Stephen Cardullo.
Cardullo had replaced Carlos Gonzalez, who suffered a bruised right hand as he fouled off a high-and-tight Kershaw pitch _ an intended check swing _ in the fourth inning.
