When St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny selected his favorite son Adam Wainwright to start the 2014 All-Star Game over Clayton Kershaw, baseball fans were livid – and not just Dodger fans. To compound matters, Wainwright later admitted that he intentionally gave retiring Yankees shortstop (and future Hall of Famer) Derek Jeter “a couple pipe shots” – shots that Jeter did not miss as he laced a double into the right field corner to help the American League to an eventual 5-3 win over the National League; thus securing home field advantage for the American League in the 2014 World Series.

Although Dodger fans didn’t realize it at the time, losing home field advantage could prove to be an absolute blessing for the Dodgers, should they be fortunate enough to make it to the Fall Classic.

Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright deserves an Oscar for acting upset after giving Derek Jeter “a couple pipe shots” during the 2014 All-Star Game. Ironically, the AL having home field advantage in the World Series could prove very beneficial for the Dodgers should they make it that far.
(Photo credit – Scott Rovak)

As every Dodger fan knows, the Dodgers have the best road record in all of baseball and by a very wide margin. The Dodgers are an incredible 40-26 (.606) away from Dodger Stadium and a pathetic 30-30 (.500) at The Ravine. And though it may not bode well for Dodger fans hoping to see an extra World Series game at their beloved Blue Heaven on Earth, they stand a significantly better chance of seeing their team winning it all on the road, should the Series go seven games.

While it may be easy to say that being swept by the NL Central first place Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium this past weekend is just one of those things and ‘hey, we’re still in first place in the NL West,’ the painful cold hard truth is that being swept by a team the Dodgers will most likely face in the postseason played right into the Brewers hands. Not only did they beat the Dodgers in their own house, they beat they very best that the Dodgers had in Clayton Kershaw. Make no mistake about it, beating Kershaw was a huge confidence-builder for the Brew Crew because now they now know that it can be done. They also now know that they can homer off of the best in the game as well.

For those fans who are buying into the bovine fertilizer (as Vin Scully would say) that the Dodgers have an easy schedule the rest of the way, they are setting themselves up for a major letdown. While the standings may show that the Padres, Mets, Diamondbacks, Rockies and Cubs are much lesser teams than the Dodgers, history has repeatedly shown that even the worst teams in the game tend to step it up during the final weeks of the season – if for no other reason than to play the role of the spoiler. One can only hope that the Dodgers and their precarious 3.5-game lead over the Giants (whom they face six more times) do not look at these teams as pushovers. If they do, they will only get what they deserve and could very well find themselves on the outside looking in come October 1. As the popular old saying goes: “Any team can beat any other team on any given day.”

As it stands right now, the Dodgers are still in very good shape with their starting rotation even with Hyun-jin Ryu on the disabled list for an undetermined amount of time and Josh Beckett lost for the season – this thanks to Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti acquiring right-handers Roberto Hernandez and Kevin Correia after the non-waiver trade deadline. Had Colletti not done so, the Dodgers would be in very serious trouble right now – especially with the inconsistency of Dan Haren, who basically lost Sunday’s game to the Brewers in his first nine pitches.

If there was a bright side to Sunday’s dismal 7-2 loss to the Brewers it was the outstanding pitching performance by recently called-up right-hander Carlos Frias, who allowed only one run on one hit with two strikeouts in his four innings of work. Although the 24-year-old Nagua, Dominican Republic native was used almost exclusively as a starter throughout his eight-year minor league career, he was called up by the Dodgers on August 4 to replace Chris Perez in the bullpen giving the Dodgers a long reliever and potential spot starter. Based on the way that Dan Haren is pitching, there is a good chance that Frias may see more long relief action on the days that Haren starts. The big concern, of course, is whether or not the Dodgers will still be in striking distance when Haren leaves the game(s). (Heaven forbid they should replace Haren’s spot in the rotation with Frias).

With Dan Haren struggling, Carlos Frias could prove to be extremely important for the Dodgers in the final weeks of the season. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Of the Dodgers remaining 36 games, 21 of them are at Dodger Stadium and 15 of them on the road. Simply put, the Dodgers need to maintain their .600+ play on the road if they are going to play .500 at home