LOS ANGELES -- With his health the main priority, the Dodgers will be strategic with just how long of a leash Clayton Kershaw gets in each start the rest of the regular season.

Kershaw, who missed more than a month with a left shoulder injury, likely won’t be at 100 percent down the stretch. Still, his ability to still be effective on the mound will be crucial for the Dodgers’ chances in October.

The likely first-ballot Hall of Famer once again showed that he’s still one of the most intimidating presences in baseball, allowing just one run and striking out five over five innings in the Dodgers’ 9-1 blowout win over the D-backs on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Kershaw now has 209 wins, matching Don Drysdale for the second-most in Dodgers history. Don Sutton holds the record with 233.

“I think it just means I’ve been here for a long time and I’ve been part of some really great teams,” Kershaw said. “It’s great company. Drysdale and Sutton are two of the best, especially in Dodger history, so it’s cool.”

Kershaw, who was held to just two innings in his last start because the game was postponed due to rain, showed some signs of rust early on. The left-hander got into a three-ball count against the first four batters of the game, walking two of them. Kershaw, however, was able to get out of the first-inning jam by getting Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to fly out weakly to center.

Over the next few innings, Kershaw settled in a little, retiring eight of the next 10 batters he faced. In the fifth, though, he allowed a leadoff homer to Corbin Carroll on his signature curveball. Kershaw's night ultimately ended after 79 pitches (42 for strikes).

“I don’t know if I ever got going, honestly,” Kershaw said. “That was another one that wasn’t super pretty. … I don’t know if it was rust or just not good, but lots of stuff to work on. Thankful to get through five and only give up one run on the one homer. It wasn’t great, but I’ll take it.”

Though the results were there for Kershaw, he did see a dip on his velocity. His four-seam fastball was down 1.6 mph and his slider also dipped 1.5 mph. But in the end, Kershaw found a way, like he’s done more often than not.

“I mean, this guy is one of the greatest competitors I’ve ever seen,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Clearly he didn’t have his best stuff. But he was going to give you five innings, find a way to give us a chance to win a ballgame. When you think you can’t have more respect for a player, he goes out and does something like this.”

The Dodgers’ offense backed him up in a big way, exploding for nine runs on 16 hits. Seemingly the entire lineup contributed, especially David Peralta, Jason Heyward and Chris Taylor, who each recorded three hits. The bottom of the order has been stellar the past two games against D-backs starters Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, two top-of-the-rotation arms that the Dodgers could face in October.

In the sixth, it was Mookie Betts’ turn to continue his quest for a second MVP Award, launching a 428-foot homer, his 36th of the season, surpassing his career high from last year. The Dodgers' superstar has recorded two or more hits in 17 of 26 games in August.

“I have a lot of respect for Merrill and Zac,” Roberts said. “They’ve both had great years and ... we just really took great at-bats. We grinded them. We won a lot of big counts, lot of big at-bats. … Just across the board, situationally, we were good.”