Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Clayton Kershaw made his first post All-Star game start on Saturday afternoon against the Washington Nationals, and he was as brilliant as he’s been all season long. Kershaw threw eight shutout innings, striking out 14, and only allowing three hits, as the Dodgers beat the Nationals 4-2.

His curveball was devastating, his fastball looked like it was playing harder than 96 mph, and his slider was breaking late and biting hard. Although he may have been aided by some nasty shadows in the last few innings of his outing, with the stuff that Kershaw had, it wouldn’t have made a difference. He was locating with every one of his pitches, changing speeds, and moving the ball in, out, up, and down. Even the front-runner for National League MVP, Bryce Harper, was visibly frustrated facing Kershaw, as he had no clue what was coming, and spent most of the afternoon flailing at pitches, which resulted in three strikeouts in three at-bats against Kershaw.

Over his last four starts, Kershaw has thrown a combined 31 innings, while only allowing two earned runs, and striking out 43. Kershaw has dropped his ERA from 3.33, which it was prior to his June 27 start against the Miami Marlins, all the way down to a 2.68 after today’s start. That’s a 0.65 drop over the last three weeks.

The Dodgers have been rumored to be in talks with the Cincinnati Reds about a trade for Johnny Cueto, and the Philadelphia Phillies about Cole Hamels. According to some reports, it’s possible that the Dodgers could end up with both guys, but almost definitely at least one. If either one of those guys ends up in a Dodgers uniform, Kershaw’s able to keep up this sort of dominance, and Zack Greinke continues on the roll that he’s been on all season long, the Dodgers have to be considered the favorites to win the 2015 World Series.

Jason Fletcher is a Senior Writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.