Dodgers’ offense picks up bullpen and creates fireworks

3:46 AM ET

LOS ANGELES — That Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen, which had been the cornerstone during the club’s midseason revival, not only took on water Friday, it also was hit with a 70-foot wave.

That Dodgers’ offense, though, the co-conspirator in the effort to get the team back into contention for a fourth consecutive division title, brought along the proper bail out techniques.

And in the end, the bullpen found its redemption with Kenley Jansen’s four-out save that was under more pressure than usual. Jansen needed to dispatch the Arizona Diamondbacks quickly in the ninth inning in order for the planned fireworks show to go off before curfew. Jansen obliged, finishing off a wild 9-7 win before an anxious crowd of 50,966.

“I don’t care, man, I have a job to do,” Jansen said, when asked if he heard the announcement to fans that the fireworks show was in danger of being cancelled. “I don’t care about fireworks. I have to make sure I don’t get fireworks out there. I have to make sure I stop that from happening.”

They make curious bedfellows, these specialty pitchers and once-downtrodden hitters, who started the season in the shadow of a Clayton Kershaw-led starting pitching staff; but they have been there when the Dodgers were in need.

After the Los Angeles bullpen struggled in Arizona’s seven-run seventh, Kenley Jansen made short work of the Diamondbacks to close out the win. Richard Mackson/USA TODAY Sports

Kershaw has been out for more than a month now, and yet the Dodgers continue to rise in the National League West, no doubt helped by the San Francisco Giants’ second-half free fall.

Since June 26, the last day Kershaw threw a major league pitch, the Dodgers are 17-10. They are an even better 15-8 in July, as the Giants’ division lead has been shaved down from eight games on the night Kershaw was lost to one game now. It is the closest the Dodgers have been since May 15.

“Every one’s a big …

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