So you’re saying there’s a chance.
On Wednesday, a crazy thing happened. The Los Angeles Dodgers won, and the San Francisco Giants lost. And then on Thursday, the Giants lost again, to the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers have gained a game on the Giants in the NL West, and are now one game back, with 15 games to play.
Aside from playing head-to-head, the phenomenon has only happened one or two other times this season because the Giants seemingly never lose.
Of course, I am exaggerating, but only a little bit. But, could the tide be turning? Could the Giants be losing their magic?
That I won’t believe until I see it. While the Giants are of course a very good baseball team, they do seem to have hit the right combo of veterans rediscovering their youth and excellent pitching. They also have been very good at the smaller points of the game, like defense and base stealing. And also some little bit of Giants magic.
Now both the Giants and the Dodgers are beginning tough weekend series. The Giants will welcome the Atlanta Braves into Oracle Park. The Braves are tops in the NL East, and had a game rained out on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies, after losing the first two games to them. The Braves have their three best pitchers lined up to face the Giants and hopefully old friend Joc Pederson will hit a few into McCovey Cove.
For their part, the Dodgers will be on their last road trip for the season, that will take them through Cincinnati, Colorado, and San Diego. Friday starts a three game set against the Reds, who are fighting for a Wild Card spot. They are only one game back of the St Louis Cardinals, who are now the second team. The Padres are in between them, one half game behind the Cards.
Both series should be tough, as three teams involved are fightIng for either the division lead or a spot in the playoffs. While the Braves currently have a 3.5 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies, they will not want that lead to get any smaller.
Coming off of two straight loses, a team as good as the Braves most likely will not lose five in a row. The Dodgers will have to continue to play as well as they can and get some wins in Cincinnati.
Los Angeles has their best pitchers also lined up for the Cincinnati. Series. Walker Buehler, Max Scherzer, and Clayton Kershaw will all get starts. Could this weekend finally be the turning point? Stay tuned.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Fifteen games left and one game back in the loss column. The Dodgers have their two injured starters back in Kershaw and Gonsolin both had solid return games. The Giants have some issues with their starting pitching. If the Padres stay in the hunt and battle I like the Dodger’s chances to win the division especially with the reports of Pollock’s rehab going better than expected and Taylor recuperating from his neck issue. The struggle has been with the offense this year with getting timely hits or strategic sacrifices. Loved Trea Turner’s roller last night, legging out the hit and scoring a very important run. That is the type of baseball that wins Championships. It’s the little things when a game is on the line, moving a runner over, scoring the runner from 3rd with a fly ball or ground out.
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One game back. Yep, with the Giants playing the Braves, a sweep against the Reds would be huge. I think they can do it with Buehler, Scherzer and Kershaw lined up to pitch in the series. Great American is a hitters park, so the offense should be cranking it up. Miley, their best pitcher so far goes on Sunday against Kershaw.
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I don’t expect us to sweep this weekend but 2 out of 3 seems doable. Reds are fighting for a wildcard spot and have their own good pitchers to use on us so we will see how things turn out.
Braves are throwing some strong pitching at the Giants all weekend and the Giants are going with Webb on Friday and DeSclafani on Sunday. Saturday TBD, hopefully a bullpen game.
I hope Muncy’s knee survived that slide he put on trying to steal second last night. We need him in the lineup every day from now until the end of the season.
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Steve Kornecki says the Giants have the better odds to win the division because of the home and away records of the two. I like the Dodgers because the starting pitching ratings favor the Dodgers and baseball hinges on pitching. I do not recall the Dodgers having a starting line-up intact with front-line guys since the second or third week in the season. Mark Prior has done a remarkable job. I am sure he made Honey proud.
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As far as I’m concerned, when it gets to the last couple of weeks of the season, home and away records mean far less than the health of the roster, so I think you’re on the right track Tmax.
I’m not sure when Wood and Cueto are expected back but, for the first time in a long while, we have all 5 starters available. Now let’s just hope they stay healthy. And as you mentioned, our starting lineup has hardly played together all year. Hopefully AJ and CT3 return quickly and no one else gets hurt.
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AJ is 7-10 days away according to Roberts, which means he won’t be back until the last weekend at the earliest. Taylor has been cleared. Muncy has a contusion on his knee, but is ok to play. Same lineup tonight as the last few games. First four in the Reds lineup all have 20 or more homers now that Winkler has been activated for tonights game. Buehler needs to be at his best. Great American is a hitters park for sure.
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As Nomar and the hitting coaches have repeatedly told Bellinger he has to actually make contact before he can drive the ball 20 miles as he has been attempting to do. The last few days it has looked like Bellinger’s moderating his swing slightly. He has tons of talent but appears to have a rock for a brain. We are all hoping he can help going forward as he has been a drag on the team so far. Having Bellinger in the lineup has been like golfing with a dead guy.
I blame the Dodger organization and Roberts for allowing Bellinger to be this hapless at-bat for this long. They should have brought him back to AAA to recalibrate mentally and physically as they belatedly did with Lux. Someone and it use to be the manager needs to explain to some of these guys that it’s a team sport. Some of the Dodgers do not appear to have read that memo.
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