by Steven Booth
The Dodgers are so close to winning the NL West they can almost taste it. Their magic number is two. All they need is a win and a Rockies loss to win the division. The only thing really at stake is the best record in the NL.
Don’t tell the Dodgers that. the way they played the Pirates this weekend, they seem like they are determined to make this as difficult as possible. Even the Rockies seem like they may want to help. their uneven playing has suddenly let the Braves in the wildcard race.
Yes the Dodgers are banged up. Manny Rameriz and Casey Blake are nursing injuries, and the starting pitching is inconsistent, but this is the Nationals and Pirates we’re talking here. The Blue took two out of three from the Nats, but had to battle much more than they should’ve, and they lost three out of four to the Pirates.
Give some credit to the Pirates and Nats, playing inspired ball long after the standings and their own management gave up on them. But do the Dodgers, who still have the inside track to have the NL’s best record want to back into the playoffs playing tired, un-inspired ball?
There is still quite a bit at stake. It would be much nicer to force the Phillies or Cards to play a majority of playoff games at Dodger Stadium as opposed to Philly or St. Louis.
While the Dodgers have the bats, they may not have a world series-caliber pitching staff. Randy Wolf has had a career year, Clayton Kershaw has stepped it up dramatically, and while they’ve found other guys to step up when needed, they are a weaker staff than the Adam Wainwright/Cris Carpenter/Joel Piniero troika the Cards will throw at them, and even the Philly pitching, once a concern, may be stepping it up. Cole Hamels is pitching the best he has all years.
That’s not even talking the firepower these teams will bring.
It’s neccessary that they are forced to play most of the games at Dodger Stadium. It makes it easier on our pitching, our batters are more comfortable, and the the Dodgers will have the crowd behind them.
On paper, the Dodgers would be seen to be at a dis-advantage to the Cardinals, and roughly comparable to the Phillies. The games will not be played on paper, it is obvious the Dodgers need every advantage they can get, and home field advantage for the first and hopefully second round, would be a great start.
