The Dodgers on Monday beat the Reds to clinch a playoff berth for the 14th season in a row, tying the major league record also held by the Atlanta Braves, who made it to 14 consecutive postseasons from 1991-2005.
Los Angeles won again in Cincinnati on Tuesday, which eliminated the Arizona Diamondbacks from National League West contention. The division is down to just two teams, the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
NL West standings
Dodgers 92-60, – –
Padres 83-69, 9 GB
The Dodgers are up nine games with 10 left to play.
The Dodgers have beaten the Padres seven times in 10 meetings this season, already clinching the tiebreaker. That means the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the division is only one. A single Dodgers win or Padres loss, whichever comes first, will give the Dodgers a fifth consecutive NL West title and 13th in the last 14 years.
The earliest the Dodgers can clinch the NL West is Thursday, September 17.
Thursday schedule
Dodgers at Reds, 9:40 a.m. PT
Padres at Rockies, 12:10 p.m.
Clinching a bye
The two division winners with the best records get a bye directly into the National League Division Series, which means beginning the postseason on Saturday, October 3 instead of in the wild card round on Tuesday, September 29.
NL division leaders
through September 16
The Dodgers do not have the tiebreaker with either the Brewers or Braves, which means they have to have a better record to gain a higher seed. The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch at least the No. 2 seed over Atlanta is seven, or put another way the Dodgers need seven of 19 outcomes to fall their way in order to finish with a better record than the Braves. Meanwhile, Atlanta needs 13 of 19 outcomes to claim the No. 2 seed.
Getting the No. 1 seed over Milwaukee is a tougher task for the Dodgers, who have a magic number of 14 to finish with the best record in the National League. That means the Dodgers need 14 of 20 outcomes to fall their way to earn the No. 1 seed, while the Brewers need just seven of 20 outcomes to have the best NL record for the second year in a row.
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