LOS ANGELES — The back-to-back champions sputtered back to Dodger Stadium losers of three straight series and in dire need of a reset.Manager Dave Roberts said as much before the team’s three-game series against the Kansas City Royals. He bemoaned his team being “bullied” by fastballs, and challenged them to play with more urgency.The Dodgers responded accordingly, grinding out three gritty wins to sweep the Royals after a 4-2 victory Wednesday night. It did not come without a cost, though: Freddie Freeman avoided serious injury after falling down the steps of the visiting dugout attempting to make a play in foul territory in the eighth inning. He is considered day-to-day.“We really dodged a bullet,” a visibly relieved Roberts said postgame.After their worst skid of the season, the Dodgers clawed back to their winning ways. Eric Lauer was the hero Wednesday; with the bullpen short, he muscled through six innings of two-run ball (one earned) on 112 pitches — three shy of his career high.While the Dodgers seemed to have righted their ship, they are far from playing perfect ball. The team’s woes with ABS challenges have been exposed, and they’ve run themselves out of several scoring opportunities. Still, their style of play is certainly trending back toward their expectation to win.“Much better,” Roberts said of the Dodgers’ play this series. “Much better as far as, I see the determination of fighting to take better at-bats. Now anyone can see it, we’re giving up outs on the bases, we’re not converting like we need to. So there’s still overall — I like the effort, but we still have a long way to go to really get better.”A considerable test awaits in a pivotal — and potential playoff preview — series against the Milwaukee Brewers, who own the best record in baseball (74-47). The four-game set begins Thursday, with National League Cy Young candidate Jacob Misiorowski slated to start Saturday.Can the Dodgers make up some ground in the NL playoff picture? Let’s break down three trends to monitor as August continues: