After the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies, they passed them for first place in the National League West standings. Their 2.5-game lead represented a season-high.
Although the Dodgers were in the driver’s seat at that point, a subsequent loss to the San Diego Padres, coupled with a Rockies’ win, trimmed their lead in the division to 1.5 games. While Colorado went on to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles kept pace with back-to-back wins.
Although the separation between the two teams is minimal, the Dodgers nonetheless remain in control of their own destiny when it comes to winning a sixth consecutive NL West title.
Sunday’s win saw the offense explode for 14 runs, but Hyun-Jin Ryu also turned in a stellar outing on the mound. While the Dodgers can’t yet plan for October, there nonetheless figures to be early forecasting on a potential postseason roster.
Ryu believes he’ll earn a spot on that as one of the club’s presumed four starters, per Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
“I think the team and I are both heading toward the right direction, in terms of getting to the postseason,” Ryu said through an interpreter. “I believe I have one more start before the regular season ends. And once we’re in that position, I’m pretty optimistic that I’ll get a start.”
Ryu allowed just four hits to the San Diego Padres and collected eight strikeouts over six shutout innings. He also went 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Upon knocking his second single in the fourth inning, Ryu to that point was outhitting the Padres.
Ryu improved to 6-3 with the win and lowered his ERA this season to 2.00, which is best among the team’s starters. Should Ryu indeed earn a spot in the Dodgers postseason rotation, it would be his first time pitching in the playoffs since 2014.
That year, he allowed one run and five hits to the St. Louis Cardinals in six innings of Game 4 of the NL Division Series that the Dodgers lost and thus were eliminated.
