Two tough losses against the Diamondbacks for the Dodgers set this three game series with the Giants. Hyun-jin Ryu faced off against MadBum. The Dodgers will need help to overcome the Rockies because the Rockies lead the NL West by one game. The Rockies won today against the Nationals, but the Cardinals lost. So the Dodgers could end up with the 2nd wild card.
With two games remaining, the Rockies lead the Dodgers by one game in the NL West and possess the same record as the Braves. Colorado owns the home-field advantage tiebreaker over Atlanta.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 29, 2018
The Dodgers attacked Madbum in this game. But the Giants got on the board first as Nick Hundley hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 2nd. Ryu then walked the next two Giants hitters and trouble was looming. Ryu was able to get a double play and a fly out to get out of the inning. The double play would be a theme for the Giants tonight. In the top of third, Kike Hernandez hit a sharp single. David Freese walked. Manny Machado singled in Hernendez to tie the score. In the bottom of the fourth, the Giants were looking to score again. Evan Longoria reached on an error by David Freese.
Brandon Crawford then hit a single. The bases were loaded with one out when Kelby Tomlinson came up to bat. He hit into a double play. In the top of 5th, Kike Hernandez got another hit off Madbum. Justin Turner then hit a two run shot and the Dodgers led 3-1.
First career homer for @GrittyNHL. Congrats! #SeptemberBaseball pic.twitter.com/l4dsO7lCgj
— MLB (@MLB) September 29, 2018
In the bottom of the 6th, Joe Panik led off with a single. Evan Longoria then hit into a double play. Ryu went six strong innings. In the bottom of the 7th, Scott Alexander walked Brandon Crawford. Pedro Baez then came in and gave up a single. He then struck out Gregor Blanco and Gorkys Hernandez. Alex Wood was then brought in and struck out Travis D’Arnaud. In the bottom of the 8th, Kenta Maeda came in and gave up a single to Joe Panik. Evan Longoria then hit into a another double play.
Kenley Jansen came for the bottom of the 9th and hit Brandon Crawford with one out. The game ended with Aramis hitting into a double play to end the game. The Dodgers live another day in the hunt for the NL West and home field in the NLDS. The Dodgers need to win-out. If Atlanta loses once the Dodgers clinch home field in a potential NLDS match-up. If the Rockies at least lose one game, the Dodgers would play on Monday for the division at Dodger Stadium. Loser would get the wild card. If the Dodgers win tomorrow or Cardinals lose, the Dodgers will at least clinch a wild card spot. By winning today, they clinched that they would play on Monday.
James Moya
Hi I’m James Moya. I am an avid Dodgers fan. I graduated Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors in Communications. I used to freelance at the San Bernardino Sun. I’m excited about this opportunity to write for LA Dodger Report to gain experience. I’m a straight shooter on my opinions and I hope to get some good conversations going. My dream has always been to report on the Dodgers because Baseball is the National Past-time. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.
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Magic number is now one. It looks as though the Dodgers will slink their way into the October Tournament, even with a slim chance of snagging another Divisional Crown.
Ryu comes through with another quality start. Great to see Maeda back strong. I was afraid that Kenta may not recover from the beaning incident. Jansen also showed signs of his old self. Defense comes up with 5 double plays to assist the pitching staff.
Offensively, the Dodgers took it to MadBum…I like when that happens. Got enough runs to win. JT is really locked in right now. Even “The Smirk” got into the act. Still, a weak 1-6 RISP, 10 KO’s. 15 LOB. That needs to improve.
Most impressive was Kiké Hernandez’ inspiring hustle and bat control. He leaves it on the field every game.
COL is relentless down the stretch, winning 8 straight, but must now face Strasburg and possibly Scherzer. Nats need to wake up… they are doing their best impression of the Dodgers by blowing many scoring opportunities. STL probably will be eliminated today.
Dodgers just have to take care of their own business, and win the last two. And when the dust settles in the Wild West, they will be the last team standing as the sun sets on the regular season.
Of the playoff eligible teams in NL, the season series were:
LAD vs. MIL: 4-3
LAD vs. COL: 12-7
LAD vs. ATL: 5-2
LAD vs. CHC: 3-4
LAD vs. STL: 3-4
What does this mean, with regards to home field advantage (HFA) in playoffs?
Seedings for playoffs are, first, based on overall season records, right? Higher seeds get HFA?
Season Series records only apply “if” teams are tied, right?
Brewers have home field for the wild card if they do not catch the Cubs, who currently are losing to the Cardinals, 2-1. Second wild card goes to the top seeds home park. Dodgers-Rockies tie, Rockies have to come to LA for a 1 game playoff to decide the division. Now once all is said and done, wild card will play at the home park of the team with the best record, presently the Cubs. The west leader will meet the east leader. The Braves right now have a 1 game lead over the Dodgers, but are tied with the Rockies. If the Dodgers were to win the division, the Braves would come to LA. Not sure how the Braves did against the Rockies this year. What I do know is that if the Dodgers win today, they are in the playoffs and the Cardinals are toast. DC is pitching Strasburg tonight, and the Rockies are pitching Gray. DC will likely pitch Scherzer tomorrow if they win tonight. If the game means nothing, say Rocks win, Dodgers lose, then most likely that would not happen. Dodgers need to win both of these two games and keep the pressure on the Rocks because their game will be long over by the time the Rockies game starts tonight.
I think Michael explained it well. For seedings, regular season head-to-head records determine home field in NLDS. if both teams are tied there, the next tiebreaker is intradivision records I believe. For home field of tiebreaker games, head-to-head records determine. So Dodgers have won season series over Colorado, Atlanta, and Milwaukee. If Dodgers tie Rox for NL West, tiebreaker would be at Dodger Stadium on Monday. If they tie Atlanta for seeding, Dodgers win that one as well.
Yankees hit HR number #265 to set a MLB record….unreal….for the first time in MLB history, strikeouts are going to be higher than base hits, thank you Chris Taylor for leading the NL in that category with 177 so far. Cody Bellinger has 151. Need to correct that guys, I do not care what coaches, or stat geeks think, K’s are useless outs and do nothing to contribute to wins. Cardinals win 2-1 over the cubs, Mikolas wins # 18. Guy is 9-0 on the road. Dodgers win Cardinals go home.
Yes, Michael did a great job, assist to Scott! Thanks guys.
…. Kershaw not sharp today. He seems to be throwing 4seam fastballs, one after another, and Gnats are jumping on them. No curve. Not good.
Kersh goes 5 and leaves with the game tied…they get 2 on and no out, runners on 1st and 3rd and so far cannot score here in the 6th. They lose today, it is on them. They had the leave twice early and could not hold on. Pitiful Giants not rolling over which is exactly what I expected from them.
Just a roller coaster of emotions this year. They cannot win a championship with this kind of pitching from their “Ace”, and pathetic hitting with RISP. Blew my mind, pinch hitting for Pederson with Strike Out King CT3.?♂️
The kind of money they are paying Kershaw, we don’t expect perfection, we demand perfection. Can Ryu and Buehler carry them through the playoffs alone? I don’t think so.
As far as hitting and producing runs, that’s another story. I can’t type that much. I’ll get a relapse of carpal tunnel.
That may because Joc has struck out 8 times in his last 17 at bats.
And that HR he hit was only his first hit, in his last 11 at bats.
Clutch play by Grandal for the 2nd out in the eigth.
Entertaining game. Perfect for this crazy season.
Machado has such an easy swing.
Can the ‘pen hold the fort?
Just like I expected at the beginning of the year.
Kike, Max Muncy, and Manny Machado with vital, timely hitting for the Dodgers.