Dodgers: Three reasons they’ll end up losing the NL West
By Keith Rivas
Their remaining games aren’t an easier road than Arizona’s
The path to the Dodgers blowing their now-9 game lead in the NL West starts with how they can finish down the stretch. Currently in a series with the San Francisco Giants in the bay area, the closing opponents for the Dodgers aren’t too crazy outside of one.
In order, they’ll play the Nationals, Phillies, Giants, Padres, and Rockies to finish the regular season. The current series against the Giants will go until Wednesday, while the Nationals will see the Dodgers starting Friday.
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There is a chance that the Nationals series will be the ultimate deciding factor in where the Dodgers fit into the playoff picture this time around. As a result of their current slump, Washington has been able to gain ground in the standings and now also stands as a threat to take away home field advantage from LA in the post-season.
Philadelphia shouldn’t be a struggle, but that’s what should’ve been the case in recent series against Colorado and San Diego. Even Arizona shouldn’t have been able to dominate the Dodgers the way that they did when they met.
As for the Diamondbacks, their hardest regular season match up to close out the season comes in their current battle with the Rockies, which goes until Thursday. From there, they’ll play San Francisco twice with Miami and San Diego in-between before closing in Kansas City.
None of those other teams pose a serious threat to the Diamondbacks, especially if they can keep up their momentum swing. This means all it takes is small slips by the Dodgers to make things that much worse in the closing moments.