DENVER -- Don Mattingly made a rather bold prediction after Clayton Kershaw's latest masterful performance: His ace will give up another run at some point this season.

"I know I'm going out on a limb," the Los Angeles Dodgers manager joked.

Lately, Kershaw has looked that untouchable.

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The hard-throwing lefty nearly had no-hit stuff against Colorado again, allowing only two singles over eight innings as the Dodgers beat the Rockies 9-0 on Friday night.

What's more, Kershaw (10-2) extended his scoreless streak to 36 innings before being replaced by a pinch hitter in the ninth. Kershaw bottled up the top-hitting team in the majors in nearly matching the no-hitter he threw against the Rockies on June 18 at Dodger Stadium. Kershaw struck out eight and walked one.

"You don't ever want to give up a run," Kershaw casually said. "I guess that's the goal."

The nastiness of Kershaw's slider -- the best pitch in baseball, Drew Stubbs labeled it -- is fueling his roll.

"Anytime he takes the mound, he's capable of the run he's been on," catcher A.J. Ellis said.

Yasiel Puig hit a two-run shot -- his first homer since May 28 -- and Scott Van Slyke added a three-run homer as the Dodgers had a season-high 19 hits.

Jair Jurrjens (0-1) struggled in his first big-league start in a year, lasting 4 2/3 innings and giving up eight runs.

After the game, Jurrjens was taken to a nearby hospital for tests after developing breathing issues. Though the problems dissipated, the Rockies had him taken to the hospital.

Kershaw was coming off quite a June in which he went 6-0 with a 0.82 ERA. He carried it over to July as he allowed only DJ LeMahieu's single in the third and Nolan Arenado's base hit in the seventh.