“There is no sense in crying over spilled milk.” It is perhaps one of the first clichés we heard as kids, probably well before we even knew what a cliché was. Although as kids, it was undoubtedly more a fact of life – spilled milk, that is.

Over the past six or eight weeks, you have had to endure me harping over the fact that the Dodgers have missed so many golden opportunities to expand their lead over the Giants (and now subsequently trying to catch them) in the standings because of losing games when the Giants (and D-backs) also lost. What irked me most about this seemingly nightly occurrence is that the teams that the Dodgers were losing to were mostly sub .500 teams, such as the A’s, White Sox, and (uggh) losing three of four to the Mets at Dodger Stadium. Granted, any team on any given day can beat you, but to lose series and even being swept by these lesser teams was (is) simply unacceptable for a contending team which, to that point, the Dodgers certainly were. (I have these vague memories of once having the best record in all of baseball, then the National League, then the NL West, and now, of course, nothing).

Even though they may deny it, you can bet that the Dodgers are scoreboard watching every game.

Losing games when your competition also loses is a fact of baseball life – it happens. But it seemed to happen with disturbing regularity to the Dodgers during late May, all of June, and most of July. During this stretch, wins were at a premium as it was, but losing when the competition lost, or even winning when they won for that matter has been excruciating and is the key reason why the Dodgers have been unable to recapture the top spot in the NL West – and to be brutally honest, if the Dodgers do not win the NL West, they will not be going to the post season as it is very unlikely that either NL Wild Card spot will come out of the NL West (or NL Worst, as some call it).

Obviously, there is nothing that can be done now over those spilled milk games – they are history and in the books forever;  but man, not crying over them is extremely difficult, as they will undoubtedly loom big during the final two or three weeks of the season.

Another thing that you guys are undoubtedly tired of hearing from me is my utter disdain for the phrase “it’s still early,” a phrase which I consider nothing more than a weak excuse for poor or shoddy play. You never… never hear winning teams say “it’s still early.” As I have said countless times, a loss in April or May is just as important as a loss in September; so too is a win. It’s never too early to win but it’s always too early to lose.

It was great to see the Dodgers win five straight this past week, especially the 3-game sweep of the Mets at Citi Field (which I had the pleasure of personally attending with my daughter); and then to take the first game from the Cardinals in St. Louis. But the painful truth is that during that 5-game winning streak (coupled with last night’s blowout loss to the Cardinals) the Dodgers gained only one half games on the Giants in the standings. Yes, it definitely beats the alternative, but with each corresponding win-win and loss-loss, another day ticks off the calender; and as Charlie Steiner pointed out last night, there are only 65 games remaining in the 2012 season which, of course, means that it is definitely not still early. And even though Don Mattingly and everybody else in the Dodger dugout may claim that they are not scoreboard watching, you can bet the farm they are.

They only option that the Dodgers have is to keep on winning, and winning, and winning, because at some point, the Giants will lose a few. But you can also bet the farm that the Giants are thinking this exact same thing.