Dodgers Have 1 Week to Win the West: Everything You Need to Know
No one could have predicted where the NL West standings would have ended up in 2021. From the start, the only conversation was about the Padres and Dodgers going at it all season long to determine the top spot.
Even when the Giants were winning games by mid-Summer, the only question was WHEN they would start to fall off. They never did, and the Padres faded into almost nonexistence at this point. Now out of the playoff hunt, San Diego only has 2022 to look forward to.
But this is a big week for the Dodgers and Giants. Chasing by 2 games in the division hunt with 6 left to play, a lot has to go right for Los Angeles to win their 9th consecutive NL West division title. Let’s look at some of the details to watch out for this week.
Dodgers Remaining Schedule
The Dodgers play 3 games against the Padres before taking on the Brewers for 3 more. The only question at this point is how hard those 2 teams will play. San Diego is out of the playoff hunt and has no reason to risk injury to their stars. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has already locked up their division and is not playing for anything other than preparing for the postseason.
For the moment, there is no indication that either team will throw in the towel on these games. With the Padres floundering, it might make sense for them to try and at least win some games and make their manager look good, given that he is almost surely on the hot seat.
Giants Remaining Schedule
The Giants play the Diamondbacks for 3 games and then follow that up with the Padres, so a similar situation to the Dodgers. But Arizona has won just 2 games against SF all year long and doesn’t exactly match up with them well. Getting 1 win out of that series would be huge for Los Angeles.
Starting Rotation Set
The Dodgers have their rotation lineup up all the way through the week, and that won’t change unless they drop out of the division hunt. They start things with Walker Buehler throwing for them on Tuesday night, followed by Max Scherzer, and Tony Gonsolin. The weekend series lines up as Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, and Walker Buehler once again.
For the Giants, they will throw Logan Webb on Tuesday followed by Alex Wood and a TBD starter for Thursday. They should have some combination fo Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani throwing over the weekend against San Diego.
Tie-breaker Scenario
If the Dodgers manage to tie things up, Game 163 could be absolutely wild. It would be in San Francisco since the Giants have the head-to-head advantage in the 2021 season, and Max Scherzer would line up to start for Los Angeles.
Wild Card Game
If the Dodgers fail to catch the Giants, then it lines up as an INSANE Wild Card matchup in Los Angeles. They would likely take on Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals for one game to decide who moves on to play the Giants. That game would be on Wednesday, October 6th in Los Angeles.
A whole lot to look forward to this week, and it’s going to be very stressful. Let’s go Dodgers, let’s go DBacks.
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It’s seems bizarre but at this point I wonder if the Dodgers wouldn’t be better off just focusing on getting everyone rested and ready for WC game? If the Dodgers don’t pick up a game tonite, or even worse, fall 3 back, then maybe that makes sense. Especially since starters are showing signs of being tired. What does everyone think?
Tim, you’re most likely correct on what takes place because do you or anyone else here think the Giants will lose even 1 game to the Dbacks or Padres? Even without Belt who’s out with a broken thumb I can’t see Giants losing any of their last 6 games. And because of DRRRRRRRR and the inconsistent offense, I maintain that it looks like the off season for the Dodgers begins on October 7th.
Bizarre is a great word. Seems once Roberts
did start (mgmt. must’ve intervened) playin’ the
regulars daily, he ‘not only’ never settled on a set
lineup- he waited ‘too long’ in this area to give the
players ‘more time’ to adjust to one another- leading
to ‘consistency.’ Consistency offensively is the biggest
problem all year & Roberts dropped the ball in early Sept.
with his ‘constant’ rest theory plan daily!
They’ll play to win every game until gnats or them lock up the division title
The Dodgers need to focus on the WC game as they won’t win 6 in a row and SF isn’t likely to lose three of six. The Dodgers need to figure out what they haven’t all season long, which is how to not get 10 hits in a game and then get 2-3 when they need the win the next, which is what allowed SF to hold fast the 1st place standing. This will be their downfall in the playoffs also if they get past St Louis.
Glade you mentioned the Dodgers’ need to avoid the low hit games, especially in a WC game or in the playoffs.
At that level, being overly-reliant on drawing BB’s and hitting a couple of solo HR’s to generate offense is very risky.
Some Dodgers’ fans, certainly not all, but some, will tell you that because the Dodgers, statistically, are one of the best offensive teams in MLB-that it’s nonsense to even mention the frequency with which they only get 4-5 hits a game, sometimes less.
Yes, overall, the Dodgers’ team has put up some very good offensive numbers this season, they rank high in many categories, but it couldn’t hurt for them to generate a few more hits, with more consistency.
Whoops. Meant to say glad not glade. Although Glade is a pretty good air freshener.
At this point, it’s almost impossible. Unless a miracle happens, the Giants will win the west.
so the gnats losing 2 of their best hitters, Ruf and Belt aren’t gonna lose a few games? As long as the opponents try which they have lately, chances are Dodgers will catch the gnats and play game 163 on Monday
They still won last night Joe.
I concur that winning the Division is improbable short of miracles but miracles have been known to happen. Not only will the Dodgers have to win but (even more unlikely) the Giants must lose, and the latter seems virtually impossible specifically since our Division does not appear to be putting forth much effort against them.
You know, hats off to the Giants for what they have accomplished this season, for putting the bat on the ball consistently, for beating the teams they’re supposed to beat. They have done it quietly while our guys and SD have been primping all season long. Now, let’s focus on putting the ball in play for these last six games and winning a wild card game. In the Off-season, let us revamp our field and dugout leadership. We have the guys Fer crissakes.
Kershaw’s disastrous start against the DBacks really hurt. The Cardinals are the best team in baseball. So it looks like the Dodgers will be playing the best team in baseball with their best pitcher, Sherzer, on the mound. If they survive that, they will be playing the second best team in baseball, the Giants, in SF, with their best pitcher, Sherzer, pushed out. They couldn’t have found a rockier mountain to climb. Some bats need to come back to life. The funny thing is that the Dodgers have played really well in September. They’ve won 100 games again. But that doesn’t change the level of difficulty they will immediately face in the postseason. They need to find another offensive gear.
what did you expect? Kersh was out for 2+ months, and is slowly getting it back. He’s gonna be a fine #4 starter in the playoffs!! and if Max doesn’t start against the gnats for the division on 10/4, then he’ll start at home in Dodger Stadium against the cards. I love our chances. then we get the gnats in a 5 game series!! we have enough starting pitching to beat the gnats.
Kershaw is on downside of his career. He should be thinking of retiring not signing another long contract.
He is not just giving up a hit, he is giving up homeruns.
Even with that said, if got any run support he could still win a few games.