Dodgers June review: Clayton Kershaw's finest

The Dodgers had their second annual June surge, led by Clayton Kershaw at the peak of his greatness. But it was more than just Kershaw, as the entire pitching staff was a source of strength and stability for the Dodgers in an 18-10 month that saw them surge into first place in the National League West.

The team got relatively nothing in June out of May National League Player of the Month a Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez, two heart of the order hitters, but it didn't matter much because the pitching staff and an improved defense prevented runs like nobody's business.

The Dodgers didn't even need to make a roster move, nor skip a start or shuffle the rotation during the month for the pitching staff.

Dodger Batter of June: Now entrenched in left field, Matt Kemp played every game of the month, and nearly played every inning were it not for an ejection in Cincinnati on June 11. Kemp hit .317/.375/.525 with eight doubles, three home runs and two triples, and drove in 16 runs, one more RBI than he had during the first two months of the season combined.

Honorable mention goes to Justin Turner, who before he ended the month on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring was red hot at the plate. He played 21 of 28 games, started 14, and hit .400/.468/.545.

Dodger Pitcher of June: Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw not only had the best month of his career, he had one of the best months in Dodgers history. The left-hander threw a no-hitter, won all six of his starts, allowed four total runs during the month and had a whopping 61 strikeouts to go with just four walks.

Honorable mention goes to Jamey Wright, who retired 26 of 30 batters faced during the month, and one of the batters to reach base did so by error.

June Record: 18-10
110 runs scored (3.93 per game)
71 runs allowed (2.54 per game)
.690 pythagorean winning percentage (19-9)

2014 Record: 48-37
357 runs scored (4.20 per game)
302 runs allowed (3.55 per game)
.576 pythagorean winning percentage (49-36)

Game of the Month: Another month, another no-hitter. But this one was nearly historical, as Clayton Kershaw struck out 15 and walked none against the Rockies on June 18, the only game ever with 15 strikeouts, no hits and no walks allowed. Only a seventh-inning throwing error by Hanley Ramirez kept it from being a perfect game.

Welcome aboard: Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas made his major league debut on June 6 and ended up starting 14 games during the month. Carlos Triunfel was up in April but didn't play, and made his Dodgers debut on June 15. The infielder hit his first major league home run on June 17. First baseman Clint Robinson made his Dodgers debut on June 27, and got his first major league hit and RBI in the team's 1-0 win on the last day of the month.

Pinch Hitting: For the month, Dodger pinch hitters had 10 hits in 26 at-bats with a double and four walks, hitting .385/.467/.423.

Runners in Scoring Position: In June, the Dodgers hit .300/.379/.449 with runners in scoring position in 272 plate appearances, with 15 doubles, two triples and five home runs.

They had a runner on third base with less than two outs 59 times, and got the runner home 26 times, or 44.1 percent (the entire National League scored 440 of 848 times, 51.9 percent).

They had a runner on second base with nobody out 24 times in June, and the runner advanced 11 times, or 45.8% (the entire NL advanced the runner 323 of 595 times, 54.3 percent).

Upcoming month: The Dodgers have only nine home games in their 24-game July, a month that that will see them play a pair of interleague games in Detroit, and will see them take a nine-game road trip immediately following the All-Star break through St. Louis, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.

June weeks in review: June 2 | June 9 | June 16 | June 23 | June 30

Previous month in review: April | May

June Stats