Beginning Saturday, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies each faced a magic number of one. The Dodgers were on the verge of securing home-field advantage through the World Series, while the Rockies were on the precipice of punching their ticket to the National League Wild Card Game.
While Los Angeles was in position to control their own destiny, losses by the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros would also complete the job. That is what transpired, granted several hours apart, before the Dodgers’ completed their comeback win at Coors Field.
For the Rockies, they took the field with the safety net of knowing they’d reached the postseason for the first time since 2009 because of a Milwaukee Brewers loss. The score went final at Busch Stadium less than 30 minutes before scheduled first pitch in Colorado.
The Rockies shared a video on social media of the team enjoying a tempered, dry celebration. Somewhat curiously, their game with the Dodgers was delayed by 20 minutes because of an expected rain storm.
That never came and though some gamesmanship may have been involved, it was not a matter Dodgers manager Dave Roberts chose to fret over, via MLB.com:
“Yeah, there’s different stories with that one,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Didn’t see any rain. By coincidence, the final score of the Brewers-Cardinals game came and they push the start back 20 minutes. It is what it is. We’re not going to fret over it. We won a baseball game and we’ll try to do the same thing tomorrow.”
While it was the Rockies who retired to the clubhouse for a raucous celebration, the Dodgers themselves had a small reason to toast. In addition to clinching homefield for the entire playoffs, their win Saturday was the 103rd this season.
That’s more than any team in Los Angeles franchise history. A win on Sunday would tie the 1942 Brooklyn team for second-most. The 1953 Dodgers won 105 games and the World Series.
After Sunday’s season finale, it’s possible the Dodgers and Rockies will meet in the best-of-five NL Division Series. That would require Colorado going on the road and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks.
