For Dodgers, it’s all about the wins and the grins

It’s a little too soon to start talking about magic numbers, not too soon to start talking about magic.

After all, by the time the Dodgers take the field for their next game, they will not have lost in 11 days.

“We still have a chance to go 159-3,” Russell Martin said. “It’s a long season, though.”

Martin had a smile on his face, but who among the Dodgers did not?

The Dodgers got miles of smiles out of their 14-2 pummeling of the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. The Dodgers extended their winning streak to eight games, moving into sole possession of first place in the National League West for the first time this season.

Matt Kemp drove in five runs on a pair of home runs -- one a grand slam -- and Orlando Hudson and Andre Ethier drove in three runs apiece. The Dodgers are 10-3, a record bettered only by the Florida Marlins.

“It’s sort of a domino effect,” Manager Joe Torre said. “Everybody has contributed.”

The Dodgers have scored the most runs in the league (82) and given up the fewest (40). They could pad those numbers when they hit the road Tuesday, against the woeful Houston Astros.

In completing a 6-0 homestand, the Dodgers tied the Los Angeles record for consecutive home victories at the start of the season. The franchise record is nine, by the 1946 Brooklyn club. They outscored opponents 50-17 on the six-game homestand.

“That’s the point of having a strong lineup,” Casey Blake said. “You don’t have to rely on the same guy every night.”

The Dodgers had 19 hits Sunday, including at least one from every starter except pitcher James McDonald. They gave Manny Ramirez half the game off, without a care in the world.

When they sent Ramirez for his siesta, they led by 11 runs. He had not driven in any of them.

Kemp took care of that on this day, most notably with a grand slam that highlighted a seven-run fifth inning. The Rockies had just changed pitchers, from Ubaldo Jimenez to Matt Belisle, and a year or two ago Kemp might have attacked the first pitch from a reliever entering the game with the bases loaded.

“Last year, when he saw the ball, he swung at the ball,” Torre said.

This time, Kemp took ball one, then ball two. Then he took a mighty swing, and a trip around the bases.

“I’m starting to figure out the pressure a little,” Kemp said.

He has hit in each of the Dodgers’ first 13 games, and his three-hit day lifted his batting average to .383. The grand slam particularly impressed Torre, primarily because of the landing spot.

The ball cleared the wall in right-center field. As Kemp applies the lessons of using the whole field to his prodigious natural ability, he could be a superstar in the making.

“He has that type of ability, like Alex Rodriguez,” Torre said. “I’m not trying to compare them. But, when they’re in the middle of the field, they do their best work. . . .

“If he hits to right-center and left-center and through the middle, you’re not going to trick him that much.”

Kemp is not alone with the big hits. After relievers Will Ohman and Scott Elbert had run-scoring hits over the weekend, the Dodgers’ pitchers have driven in more runs this season than Dustin Pedroia, the defending American League most valuable player.

“You don’t have a break with our lineup,” Martin said, “and even the pitchers are getting some pretty good at-bats.”

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com

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Plucky 13

Best starts after 13 games in L.A. Dodgers history:

*--* Start Year Finish 11-2 1981 63-47*** 11-2 2005 71-91 10-3 1977 98-64** 10-3 2009 ? 9-4 1969 85-77 9-4 1972 85-70 9-4 1974 102-60** 9-4 1983 91-71* 9-4 1988 94-67*** 9-4 1997 88-74 9-4 2004 93-69* 9-4 2007 82-80 *--*

*-Won NL West

**-Won NL pennant

***-Won World Series