We are now entering the final month of the regular season. With the MLB lockout pushing back the season, the regular season ends a little into October.
Oddly enough, the Dodgers end the season with six straight games against the Rockies.
After a seven-game road trip, the Dodgers are back home. They went 4-3 in the road trip, taking three out of four from the Marlins and dropping two out of three to the Mets. However, the Dodgers have a comfortable lead as the first seed, so there is no need to worry.
At a 90-40 record, the Dodgers are still up seven games on the Mets for the best record in the National League.
Now, the team will mostly face divisional opponents until the end of the season. So let’s hope they can ramp up before they hit the postseason, as the division hasn’t given the Dodgers too much trouble thus far.
The Dodgers play the Padres nine times this month and six times in the next week. They will begin a six-game homestand, starting against the Padres and ending with the Giants.
What was once a division race seems lost long in the dust; the Dodgers and Padres, at one point, were separated by no more than three games. Now, 18 games separate the two as San Diego is trying to hang on to a playoff spot.
Pitching matchups have been set for the weekend series. The Dodgers will start with Dustin May, Julio Urias, and Andrew Heaney. In contrast, the Padres will start Yu Darvish, Sean Manaea, and Mike Clevinger.
Out of ten meetings, the Dodgers are 8-2 against the Padres. So it’s been pretty much one-sided the whole season.
May will make his third start this season as the Dodgers continue to hope he can ramp up before the postseason. When one pitcher comes back, it seems one goes down as Tony Gonsolin was now placed on the injured list, and the team is hopeful he can come back for the postseason.
In farm system news, Dodgers prospect Bobby Miller made his mark at Triple-A Oklahoma City, recording 14 strikeouts in six innings, including eight in a row. It’s starting to seem like we’ll see him on the big league mound soon.
First pitch for Friday’s opener is at 7:10 p.m. Pacific.