The Los Angeles and Arizona Diamondback Dodgers start a series of three games on Tuesday against various degrees of after-season certainty.
The Dodgers (88-68) won a place in the playoffs on Friday, and their magic number to win the West National League for the 12th time in 13 seasons is three before the San Diego Padres game (85-71) on Monday evening. They have a tiny chance of passing the phillies of Philadelphia (92-64) and to join the Milwaukee Brewers (95-61) as two NL teams with a Bye in the playoffs in the first round.
According to Fangraphs, the chances of the D-Backs to slip into the NL qualifiers improved at 6.5% over the weekend because they took two of the three against the phillies. However, at 79-77, they must always spend the New York dishes and the Reds of Cincinnati (both 80-76) with six games to play. The Reds hold the equality on both.
“Many things have to do well for us,” said Arizona defender Corbin Carroll. “Each of these games obviously has a ton. I have to take a game at a time and, at the same time, not let it create unnecessary pressure and play for free as if we were playing in recent weeks.”
The right-hander of the Dodgers Shohei Ohtani (1-1, 3.29 ERA) will face the right-hander of the Arizona Brandon Pfaadt (13-8, 5.02) when the series is opened on Tuesday.
Ohtani made 13 pitching starts this year since returning to the mound in June, after recovering from an elbow operation. None of the outings were no more than five rounds, but his last was his best. He withdrew five rounds in five rounds without cuts on September 16 but did not make a decision in the defeat of the Dodgers 9-6 against the phillies.
Pfaadt enters after his best career outing. He abandoned a safe blow in nine-sleeves aimlessly against San Francisco on Wednesday, but did not obtain a decision in the 5-1 victory and 11 rounds of the Giants. Pfaadt had never launched more than eight innings in a match.
“We know who we face against,” said Pfaadt, “but we know the team we are and the baseball we have played. So keep doing what we can control and see what’s going on. We are in a good place.”
Ohtani, which has 53 circuits and leads the majors with 85 additional strokes, is a virtual lock to win its third consecutive MVP prize – two with the Dodgers, one with the Los Angeles Angels – and fourth in five years.
“Our guys play eliminatory caliber baseball,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “You can just see the intensity with each field, each game.
“The next step is to win this division, so we still have work to do. And then once we do it, we can focus on the playoffs.”
Carroll dominated and stole a base in a 9-2 victory on the Phillies on Sunday, becoming the first player in the history of D-Backs with a season of 30-30. It has 31 circuits and 30 interceptions.
He is the third player in the history of the major league to strike these markers while recording 15 triples. Willie Mays did it in 1957 and Jimmy Rollins in 2007. Carroll has a total of 17 triples from the major league.
“To do something that is historic in one way or another, it means that you are doing something good,” said Carroll.
The D-Backs produced a file of 28-19 since the deadline for exchanges, tied to the fifth best record of majors during this period.
“This is not how you start a season, that’s how you finish,” said Arizona manager Torey Lovullo. “We never stopped. We have never stopped believing in each other and that we have never stopped staying connected. I always said, when you are connected, you are able to do a lot. You are dangerous.”
– field level media
