The Los Angeles Dodgers spent nearly two months of the season looking up at the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies in the National League West standings. A torrid stretch reversed the Dodgers’ fortunes, however, as they’ve soared to the best record in baseball.
Left in their path has been the Diamondbacks and Rockies jockeying for the top Wild Card spot for the right to host the one-game playoff. The division opponents are plenty familiar with one another and figure to go to head-to-head in the NL Division Series.
Upon concluding a three-game series at Chase Field on Thursday night, the Dodgers are 8-5 against the Diamondbacks this season. They’re 7-5 against the Rockies.
On the possibility of facing either team in the playoffs, Yasiel Puig suggested the Rockies would be the Dodgers’ preferred choice, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“We’re in first place so we don’t really care who we play,” Yasiel Puig said of potential playoff matchups. “If it’s the Diamondbacks, that’s fine or if it’s Colorado even better. I just know throughout the season, the Diamondbacks seem to play us better. But it doesn’t matter.”
Four of the Dodgers’ last five wins against the Diamondbacks have been by one run. Los Angeles jumped out to a comfortable lead on Thursday but were forced to hang on for an 8-6 victory. The Diamondbacks brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth inning.
While the Dodgers have generally enjoyed a wider margin of victory against the Rockies, it has not come without good fortune on their side. Colorado’s bullpen blew a lead during a June game at Dodger Stadium behind several wild pitches.
The Dodgers have six games remaining against the Diamondbacks this season, split evenly between home and away, and six with the Rockies, also broken into home and road three-game series.
