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The Dodgers lost two of three games to the Giants, falling back into second place in the National League West, with four weeks remaining in the regular season. The Dodgers, now in wild card position, play two teams this week that could potentially be their opponent on October 6.
Sunday’s loss secured the season series for the Giants over the Dodgers, 10 games to nine, which means should the two teams have the same record after 162 games, a one-game tiebreaker would be held at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
NL West standings
Giants 87-50 (.635) ---
Dodgers 86-51 (.628), 1 GB
The Giants hit the road this week to play the Rockies and Cubs. The Dodgers have a pair of wild card contenders on the schedule, playing both the Cardinals and Padres this week.
NL wild card standings
Dodgers 86-51 (.628) +13
Padres 73-64 (.533) ---
Reds 73-65 (.529), ½ GB
Phillies 70-66 (.515), 2½ GB
Cardinals 69-66 (.511), 3 GB
Mets 69-68 (.504), 4 GB
Cincinnati struggled last week, dropping two of three games to both the Cardinals and Tigers, coming out on the wrong end of the 2006 World Series gauntlet. That opened the door for the Padres, who took two of three from both the D-backs and Astros to climb back into second wild card position.
The Cardinals and Phillies took advantage of Cincinnati’s struggles to stay within striking distance for a playoff spot, and the Mets won seven of their last eight to at least delay the nail from being fully driven into their 2021 coffin.
The Reds hit the road to play the Cubs and Cardinals this week, while the Phillies play the Brewers and Rockies.
St. Louis, who split six games last week, including blowing a 5-1 ninth-inning lead on Sunday in Milwaukee, host the Dodgers and Reds this week at home. The Padres are home to the Angels for two games before heading to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers this coming weekend.
LA’s final 25 games include four total series against the wild card-contending Cardinals, Padres (twice), and Reds, plus three total series against the D-backs (twice) and Rockies, before ending with three games at home against the NL Central-leading Brewers.
It’s still far too early for this, but in case you were wondering, the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the NL West is 27, and LA’s magic number to clinch a postseason berth is 12.