Dodgers magic numbers to clinch National League West, playoff bye, and No. 1 seed by Eric Stephen | True Blue LA — 23 September 2022 The Dodgers have been the best team in baseball for most of the 2022 season, and we’re tracking each one of their regular season goals, including a first-round bye, and home field advantage through the National League playoffs and potentially the World Series. Making the playoffs With a win on Monday, September 12, the Dodgers (97-43) secured a postseason berth, by virtue of clinching a better record than the Brewers (75-66). The Dodgers own the season tiebreaker over Milwaukee by winning four of seven games. NL West The division was tied as late as June 22, believe it or not, but you wouldn’t know it based on the current standings, thanks to the Dodgers having two of their best months in franchise history, back-to-back. Los Angeles (98-43) clinched their ninth NL West title in 10 years on Tuesday, September 13, holding a 20½-game lead over the Padres (78-64) with 21 Dodgers games remaining and 20 left for San Diego. The Dodgers already clinched the season series over the Padres. There are no more Game 163 regular season tiebreakers any more, so winning the season series would give the Dodgers the edge should the two teams somehow tie. September 13 was the Dodgers’ 141st game of a 162-game season, their earliest clinch by game since moving to Los Angeles. Bypassing the wild card round By winning on Monday, September 19, the Dodgers (102-44) ensured a better record than the Cardinals (87-61), NL Central leaders and owners of the third-best record among the three division leaders. That earned the Dodgers a bye into the National League Division Series. The division winners with the best two records in each league get the top two seeds, and an automatic berth in the LDS. This year, with the last game of the regular season on October 5 and the start of the NLDS on October 11, that means five days off to plan the rotation order you want, plus facing a wild card team that played at least two games, and possibly three, before heading your way. No. 1 overall seed in the National League The Mets are in a dogfight for the NL East with the Braves, with that division winner in line for the No. 2 seed. New York leads Atlanta at the moment. Dodgers 104-47 (.689) - - - Mets 96-56 (.632) 8½ GB Braves 93-58 (.616) 11 GB The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch home field advantage through the NLCS is 3. The Dodgers have the tiebreaker over Atlanta, by winning four of six games. The Mets have the tiebreaker over the Dodgers by winning four of seven games this season. Home field advantage in the World Series With 100 wins already under their belt, the Dodgers have already clinched home field advantage for any potential World Series matchups against every American League team except the Astros and Yankees. Here are the records of those three teams: Dodgers 104-47 (.689) - - - Astros 99-53 (.651) 5½ GB Yankees 92-58 (.613) 11½ GB The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch World Series home field advantage against Houston is 6. Over New York, the Dodgers’ magic number is 1. The Dodgers did not play the Astros nor Yankees during the regular season, so should the two teams remain tied, the first tiebreaker of head-to-head record cannot be used. The second tiebreaker, even for teams in different leagues, is their intradivisional record. Los Angeles has the advantage here, but that hasn’t yet been finalized. Dodgers 49-18 vs. NL West Astros 51-25 vs. AL West Yankees 41-26 vs. AL East Houston is done with playing their own division this season, while the Dodgers have nine of their final 12 games against the NL West.
Sarah Langs✓@SlangsOnSports Teams to win 106+ games in 3 straight full seasons: 2019-22 Dodgers That's it, that's the list. 3:59 PM · Sep 25, 2022 ·TweetDeck
Dodger Insider✓@DodgerInsider Freddie Freeman on what it means to clinch home-field in the NL postseason: "The loudest stadium I’ve ever heard was this place in 2013 when Juan Uribe hit that home run against us. This place can get deafening. To have home-field advantage is a big deal.” 4:58 PM · Sep 25, 2022 · Twitter Web App
And in the one non-full season in the middle of that, they were on pace for something like 120 wins. So could've been 4 straight. Ridiculous.
As a lifer West Coast guy, I always hated the East coast bias on start times. Football always started early. Hated it. Then they hosed us on baseball too. Now I'm on Eastern time & IDGAF anyway. My baby daughter is cutting two molars. She was up until 3AM this morning howling in pain. I just watched LA until they eked out the W and suffered today. So be it. It's worth it. 107 wins was cool to behold. Eff these pantywaists and their whining. Stay up late, lose sleep, watch your team, or don't. Just don't bore me.
