The St. Louis Cardinals officially punched their ticket to the postseason after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, setting the stage for a matchup against either the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Francisco Giants in the National League Wild Card Game.
The Dodgers already clinched home-field advantage for a potential spot in the Wild Card Game, but have their sights on winning a ninth consecutive NL West title. L.A. entered the final week of the regular season trailing San Francisco by two games in the standings.
The NL Wild Card Game is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 6, and will be played either at Dodger Stadium or Oracle Park.
The Cardinals’ victory over the Brewers was their franchise-record 17th in a row, which is the longest by an NL team since the Giants won 16 consecutive games during the 1951 season.
What’s more, St. Louis’ 17-game winning streak is the longest for any team in the month of September since the Chicago Cubs strung together 21 straight victories during the 1935 season.
While it remains to be seen who the Cardinals will face in the Wild Card Game, it’s worth noting they went 4-2 against the Giants during the regular season. St. Louis is one of only four teams to post a winning record against San Francisco this year.
By contrast, the Cardinals dropped four of seven games to the Dodgers, including two of three at Dodger Stadium. If they were to square off again, St. Louis likely would be tasked with solving Max Scherzer, who has tossed 14 scoreless innings against them this season.
Kershaw, Dodgers focused on winning, not scoreboard watching
As the Dodgers attempt to make up a two-game deficit against the Giants this week, Clayton Kershaw became the latest to reiterate the focus is internally.
“I don’t think we look at it that way,” he answered when asked if the NL West has felt like an endless uphill battle for the Dodgers. “I think we’re just trying to win a game. Obviously we’re watching what they do.
“We definitely are looking at the scoreboard and things like that, but we can’t control that. So we’re not super worried about what they’re doing. We’re just trying to win games. It’s hard to do both. It’s hard to focus on your game and hope that they lose and things like that, so just try to come out and win tomorrow.”
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