LOS ANGELES � Wracking up his highest strikeout total of the year, Clayton Kershaw was still not immune to the Yankees' immense power.
And it began with the game's first batter.
D.J. LeMahieu, Aaron Judge and Mike Ford each went deep against the Dodgers ace on Sunday, as the Yankees scored a 5-1 victory before 53,828 fans _ a third straight sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium.
And if this is indeed a preview of October, this was an important interleague series in one respect.
Should the Dodgers and Yankees finish with the same regular season records and meet in the World Series, the Yankees will have home field advantage in the Fall Classic due to taking two out of three games this weekend.
And the Yankees made a powerful statement in their two victories against the NL's best team, hitting three homers on Friday night against Cy Young Award candidate Hyun-Jin Ryu and belting three solo shots against Kershaw � starting with LeMahieu's leadoff homer in the first inning.
That gave the Yankees an MLB-record 59 home runs in August, the most by any club in one calendar month.
Entering Sunday's game, the Yankees were in a tie with the Orioles (May of 1987) and the Mariners (May of 1999) with 58 homers, the previous high for any calendar month.
Now, the Yankees have 61 home runs and they still have five games remaining in August to obliterate the old mark.
After a shaky start, Domingo German (17-3) went six innings � yielding just a leadoff homer to Joc Pederson in the first inning.
But there was concern for Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius, who exited Sunday's game in the third inning, due to a right shoulder contusion.
Gregorius was nailed in the back of his shoulder by a Kershaw pitch in the first inning.
Entering the game as a pinch-hitter for Gregorius in the third inning, Ford homered in the sixth off Kershaw and added an RBI double in the eighth off Pedro Baez.
Kershaw (13-3) tallied 12 strikeouts in seven innings, but three of his four hits allowed went over the fence. He walked none.
Judge's homer to center field in the third inning gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
That gave Judge a home run in each of the three games in this series, though this one was a little more special.
A video taken during batting practice before Sunday's game showed a conversation between the Yankees slugger and an elderly fan.
As they parted ways after shaking hands, Judge looked at the gentleman and said: "I'll get one for you tonight."
Judge connected on one of Kershaw's signature curveballs, the 16th homer of the year by the right fielder.
As a team, the Yankees' nine home runs this weekend at Chavez Ravine were the most by a Dodgers opponent at Los Angeles since the Cincinnati Reds clubbed eight homers in a three-game set at Dodger Stadium, July 31-Aug. 2, 2001.
Entering the game, Kershaw (.867) and German (.842) ranked first and second among all MLB pitchers this year in winning percentage.
Kershaw had also won his last five straight starts.
In the first inning, German faced runners at first and second with one out, after the Pederson homer, and retired Corey Seager (strikeout) and Chris Taylor (lineout).
Brett Gardner saved two runs in the third, chasing down Seager's deep drive to center � slamming his back against the fence � to end the inning with runners at second and third.
Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle combined to strike out the side in the seventh.
In the ninth, Aroldis Chapman � pitching for the first time in a week � finished out in a non-save situation.
