It’s a simple formula, really – win or go home.

It’s not a matter of the Dodgers just winning the final series of the 2018 regular season against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park this weekend, it’s a matter of them sweeping the series to get to the 2018 postseason.

Oh sure, the Dodgers could win a Wild Card berth into the postseason without a series sweep and, in fact, currently own one of the two National League Wild Card berths. But the cold, hard reality is that even if they do get in as a Wild Card team, the odds of them going deep into the postseason lies somewhere between slim and none.

Allow me to elaborate.

The Dodgers will enter this weekend’s three-game series against the Giants in second place in the National League West one full game behind the Colorado Rockies and with an elimination number of three. As such, the Dodgers would need to sweep the Giants and would need the Rockies to lose one of their final three games to the NL East second place Washington Nationals (or any combination of Dodgers wins and Rockies losses totaling four) for the Dodgers to win the NL West division outright.

Even though Dodgers first baseman / outfielder Cody Bellinger has three career home runs against the Giants, he probably will not start in two of the three games this weekend, as two of the Giants scheduled starters are left-handers, including Madison Bumgarner on Friday night. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

The Rockies, on the other hand, can win the division outright with a three-game sweep of the Nationals at Coors Field this weekend (or any combination of Rockies wins and Dodgers losses totaling three) – and we all know what can happen at Coors Field – aka: “Curse Field.”

However, should the Dodgers and Rockies finish the regular season with identical records, the two teams would play a one-game tiebreaker on Monday, October 1 to determine the NL West Division winner. Because the Dodgers won the season series against the Rockies, “Game-163” (as it is unceremoniously called) would be played at Dodger Stadium, with the winner advancing to the best-of-five NLDS.

With their win (and three-game series sweep) over the Rockies at Dodger Stadium on September 19, the Dodgers secured home field advantage should a tie-breaking Game-163 be necessary to determine the NL West Division winner. (Photo credit – Jill Weisleder)

The loser of Game-163 would then revert back to their 162-game regular season record for purposes of determining the Wild Card winner. As it stands right now, either the Dodgers or Rockies would be that Wild Card winner and would face the other NL Wild Card winner (Milwaukee Brewers) at Miller Park in the win-or-go-home NL Wild Card Game on Tuesday, October 2, with the NLDS beginning on Thursday, October 4.

If having to play back-to-back elimination games on consecutive days two days before the NLDS begins doesn’t wreak havoc on a pitching staff, nothing does.

…which brings us back to that sweep thing.

With an elimination number of three, the Dodgers will need a combination of wins and Rockies losses totaling three to finish in a tie with Colorado, this forcing Game-163. However, a series sweep over the Giants (who have lost seven of their last 10 games) plus one win by the Nationals over the Rockies at Coors Field will give the Dodgers their sixth consecutive NL West title.

That’s the good news and the perfect scenario.

The bad news is that the Dodgers enter this weekend’s final regular season series against the Giants having lost their last two games, while the Rockies welcome in the Nationals to Coors Field having won seven in a row.

Then again, should the Nationals somehow pull off a miracle three-game sweep of the Rockies, the Dodgers would need to win only one at AT&T Park this weekend to clinch the division, and it would be Rockies who have to play that win-or-go-home Wild Card Game against the Brewers in Milwaukee on October 2 instead of the Dodgers … a much better scenario for the Dodger and their fans.

Any way you slice it, the next three days are going to be absolutely insane.

Play Ball!