The Dodgers are closing in on winning the National League West for the 10th time in 11 years. A close race at the All-Star break has turned into a runaway, with Los Angeles pulling away from the Diamondbacks and Giants.
The Dodgers already won the season series against Arizona, winning eight of their 13 matchups, including all five games in August to close out the season series. That gives LA the tiebreaker over the D-backs in the division. The Dodgers have lost four of six games to the Giants this year, but these two teams play seven times in the season’s final 11 days.
There’s a decent chance the division could already be decided by then.
Here are the standings through Thursday, September 7.
NL West standings
Dodgers 85-54 (.614) —
D-backs 73-68 (.518) 13 GB
Giants 70-70 (.500) 15½ GB
The Dodgers’ magic number to win the division is 10, sort of.
Because they won the season series against Arizona, the Dodgers only need to tie the D-backs to win the division, so that would imply a magic number of only nine. However, it’s still possible for a three-way tie atop the division, which mucks things up.
In games among the Dodgers, D-backs, and Giants, San Francisco is 10-7 (.588), Los Angeles is 10-9 (.526), and Arizona is 10-14 (.417). The Giants, who have two games left against the D-backs in addition to seven against the Dodgers, could still potentially win a three-team tiebreaker should the Dodgers completely collapse.
Friday schedule
11:20 a.m. PT: D-backs at Cubs
4:05 p.m.: Dodgers at Nationals
7:15 p.m.: Giants vs. Rockies
Should the Dodgers in the National League West, it would be their second division title in a row and 10th in the last 11 seasons. The only year they didn’t win the division in this run was in 2021, when Los Angeles won 106 games. The Dodgers already have the third longest postseason streak in major league history, behind only the Braves (14 seasons, 1991-2005) and Yankees (13 seasons, 1995-2007).
Given the schedule, the earliest date the Dodgers could possibly clinch the NL West is Tuesday, September 12.