Dodgers 14, Cubs 5: Clayton Kershaw overcome a rare inefficient outing to become the majors’ first 20-game winner and A.J. Ellis clubbed a pair of two-run homers to help Los Angeles rout host Chicago.

Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig added three-run homers for the Dodgers, who increased their lead in the National League West to 3 1/2 games over San Francisco and clinched a playoff berth when Milwaukee lost to Pittsburgh later on Friday. Kershaw (20-3) struck out nine and won his sixth consecutive start to reach the 20-win plateau for the second time in his career, but allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks while throwing 106 pitches in only five innings.

Anthony Rizzo doubled and Jorge Soler tripled in a run during a three-run opening frame for the Cubs, who have dropped 12 of their last 15 meetings against Los Angeles. Edwin Jackson (6-15), making his first appearance since missing nearly a month with a right lat strain, was tagged for five runs in two-thirds of an inning – his shortest start since recording one out in a loss to San Diego on June 13, 2007.

Los Angeles, which used a five-run rally in the seventh inning to win Thursday’s series opener, staked Kershaw to a six-run lead before he took the mound as Kemp stroked his sixth home run in September and Juan Uribe singled in a run to chase Jackson. Ellis greeted reliever Eric Jokisch with a two-run shot to center and answered Chicago’s first-inning surge with another two-run blast off the left-hander in the third.

The Dodgers roughed up Dan Straily in the sixth as Ellis walked and Dee Gordon singled ahead of Puig, who hammered a changeup over the seats in left for his 15th homer of the season. Hanley Ramirez doubled in another run moments later and Carl Crawford completed another six-run frame with a two-run single.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Chicago C Welington Castillo left the game before the start of the second with a rib contusion after taking a foul tip off his left side during Crawford’s at-bat in the first. … The Dodgers improved to 66-0 in Kershaw’s career when giving him four or more runs of support. … Gordon, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games and posted his seventh consecutive two-hit effort, stole his league-best 63rd base – tying Davey Lopes (1976) for fifth place on the team’s single-season list.