Dodgers 2, Nationals 0

The Dodgers shut down the Nationals for the second straight game and complete the three game sweep, getting their record back to .500 for the first time since May 30th.

Clayton Kershaw got the win, he's 1-3. Jason Bergmann took the loss, he's 1-8. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 4th save.

Clayton Kershaw made the best start of his young career, going six innings, giving up no runs on just four hits and a walk while striking out five. More importantly, he kept his pitch count low, and pitched a lot of strikes. When he was taken out of the game, he'd made only 86 pitches, 57 of which were strikes. Chan Ho Park and Hong-Chih Kuo pitched a scoreless inning each, and Broxton pitched a perfect 9th, striking out one. He's been 4-4 in save opportunities.

The Dodger offense was not too potent, but got the job done. Russell Martin went 2-3 with a walk and an RBI. The other run came from James Loney on a solo homerun in the 2nd inning.

While the Dodgers were busy sweeping the Nationals, the Arizona Diamondbacks were up in San Francisco, sweeping the Giants. The Dodgers came out of this weekend at the .500 mark, but remain a game back of the streaking Diamondbacks. Speaking of the Giants, they'll come to Dodger Stadium for a three game series starting Monday at 7:10 L.A. time.

Also: Matt Kemp had a walk, a stolen base, and two hits to extended his hitting streak to 14 games... Nomar Garciaparra left the game in the 6th inning with a knee issue (Here's to hoping he's ok, or at least there will be no knee-jerk trades for an average shortstop)... Mark Sweeney was activated from the 15-day DL in time for today's game. He came in to pinch hit in the 7th and struck out. He's now 6-65 this season (.092). Check #3 here.