September 2nd, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka With only 29 games remaining in the regular season for the Dodgers, a lot has been made about the six games remaining with the San Francisco Giants, and rightfully so. With the Dodgers currently holding onto a slim 2.0-game lead over the Hated Ones, those six games will be huge in determining who not only will win the National League West Division title, but who may or may not secure a Wild Card berth for the team that does not. And while these six head-to-head games are extremely crucial, the other 23 remaining games for the Dodgers and Giants are every bit as crucial – perhaps even more so.
How is this possible, you ask? The answer to that is simple – creating separation.
Although it has been time-proven over the 147-year history of Major League Baseball that on any given day any team can beat any other team, the Dodgers just completed a very difficult stretch of their 2016 schedule during which they faced the the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cincinnati Reds, the Giants, the Chicago Cubs and the suddenly red hot Colorado Rockies. Of those 18 games, the Dodgers won nine of them and took three of the six series. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that during that same 21-day stretch, the Giants lost 12 of their 19 games and took only two series while tying one (not counting their current four-game series with the Cubs).
Although there is no argument that the Dodgers six remaining games against the Giants are absolutely huge, it’s the other 23 remaining games for both teams that will determine who wins the NL West.
(Photo credit – Dieter Ruehle)
The better news for the Dodgers is that aside from those six remaining head-to-head games with the Giants, the others will be against the San Diego Padres, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Miami Marlins and the New York Yankees. Of those teams only the Marlins and Yankees have records of better than .500 and both just barely at .507 and .523 respectively.
Meanwhile, the Giants will face the Cubs, Rockies, Dbacks, Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, of which the Cubs are an insane .647 and the Cardinals .530. As luck would have it (for the Dodgers, that is) the Giants’ series against both are four-game series.
The point to all of this is that should the Dodgers do what they absolutely need to do over their other 23 remaining (non-Giants) games and indeed take control of their own destiny; and should they get some help from the Cubs, Rockies, Dbacks, Padres and Cardinals at the same time to create some separation between themselves and the Giants, then it is quite possible that Vin Scully and the Dodgers could arrive at AT&T Park for the final three games of the regular season – and the final three games of Vin Scully’s Hall of Fame 67-year career – with the Division title already in hand.
…but somehow I don’t think Bruce Bochy and the Giants are looking at it quite the same way.
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It all looks good on paper Ron. That’s what scares me. There is always something that trips up our logic. I really don’t want them going into SF for that final series with less than a 4 game lead. The boys have got to wrap it up earlier.
They wrapped it up in San Francisco last year, best against best (Kersh vs. Bum), as it should be. There was a cushion though, with 5 games left after the clincher.
They wrapped it up against the Giants in ’14 too, but I don’t remember where they played.
I’d be fine with a 2 game lead. If they can’t win 1 of 3 in that situation they don’t deserve to move on anyway.
Even if they go in tied, the winner deserves it.
Those 3 games at Yankee Stadium should really be very exciting since the Yankees have been playing extremely well lately. If they keep it up, both teams will have something on the line.
Kike Hernandez and Josh Reddick should be bench players from here on out. I don’t understand what the justification is to keep running these guys out there when the division is on the line.
It’s time to play your best eight, Doc. Guys can get a rest in two months. Lost opportunities like tonight is what keeps the Giants on our heels… especially when we get a little help from our friends.
Kike is a bench player.
…amend “should be bench players” to say, “should not be starting.”
Semantics.
And with all the help on the roster now, they should also have their pinch-hitting roles reduced greatly, if none at all… which, of course, will be related to the situation of the game. No high-stakes at bats for these two from here on out.
I hope I’m wrong, but I think it’s going to be a tough month with the Dodgers and Giants going down to the wire. I hope the Dodgers can survive.