The Los Angeles Dodgers are making one of the biggest turnarounds of the season look easy, and enjoying every minute of it.
Los Angeles (26-20) tries to complete a sweep of the Colorado Rockies (25-21) when the NL West rivals meet in the finale of their three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
The Dodgers endured a season-high five-game losing streak from April 30-May 4, but have since won 14 of 17, including an 8-1 victory over the Rockies on Tuesday. Los Angeles has gone from five games below .500 to six games over the break-even mark in that span.
Los Angeles' season-high sixth straight win helped it improve to 4-1 against the Rockies this season. The Dodgers have not won seven in a row since an eight-game run from April 12-20, 2005.
''This team's greatest strength is the frame of mind that they're coming to the park with every day,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said. ''Recently, I've seen everyone's faces when they walk in the door. They come to the park knowing they've got a chance to win a game.
''That's a big stepping stone in any season for any ballclub. That hasn't been the case all season, but it's starting to look like that every day.''
The Dodgers recorded 14 hits in Tuesday's win as eight batters had at last one hit and seven players scored. Center fielder Kenny Lofton hit a two-run triple and is 6-for-9 over the last two games with four runs and two RBIs.
Los Angeles has outscored its opponents 45-9 in the last five contests and outhit them 68-39.
Aaron Sele (2-0, 2.29 ERA) will make his fourth start for Los Angeles on Wednesday since being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to fill in for Odalis Perez, who went on bereavement leave to care for his ailing mother in the Dominican Republic.
The veteran right-hander has allowed just five runs and 16 hits over 19 2-3 innings.
He scattered six hits and allowed two runs over six innings in Friday's 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Sele is 2-1 with a 4.07 ERA in four starts against the Rockies, but has not faced them since 2001, when he was with Seattle.
Aaron Cook (5-3, 3.28) looks to win his fourth consecutive start for the first time in his career when he takes the mound for Colorado Wednesday. The right-hander has allowed just five earned runs over the last 19 2-3 innings, and has held opponents to four or less earned runs in all nine of his starts this season.
Cook gave up seven hits and two runs over 5 1-3 innings in Friday's 8-3 victory over Toronto, but got 12 outs on groundballs thanks to an effective sinker.
''I think it (the sinker) was working, but I didn't hit my spots with it,'' Cook said. ''I was relying more on just my stuff tonight than to be able to pitch and hit my spots where I wanted to. That is what I've learned, that even when I'm not hitting spots I can rely on my stuff enough to get me outs. And it worked most of the time.''
