When the Los Angeles Dodgers began their road trip last week they were tied with the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West.
L.A. was unable to sustain their momentum from sweeping the Atlanta Braves as they lost two of three to the Giants, then split a series with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants had a scheduled off day Thursday, so the Dodgers dropped to 2.5 games out of first place.
“For me, 2.5 games is not very much,” Trea Turner said following the Dodgers’ second consecutive loss to the Cardinals.
“A lot of things can happen in the last 20 games and I don’t try to watch the scoreboard or pay attention to that stuff. You try to control what’s in front of you. At the end of the year if we worry about ourselves I think we’ll be in a good spot.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t address the NL West standings specifically, but noted the team missed an opportunity in going 3-4 on their road trip.
“It started off great and unfortunately we couldn’t finish it,” Roberts said. “Looking at where we’re at, very disappointing. But the only thing we can do now is turn the page and get ready for the Padres.”
The Dodgers don’t need to look far for an example of gaining ground on their longtime rival. The final week of August saw them lop off multiple games from the Giants’ lead in the standings, which made last weekend’s series all the more intriguing.
What further complicates matters for the Dodgers is they no longer have any regular-season meetings left with the Giants.
Dodgers lost tiebreaker
In losing their series to the Giants, the Dodgers finished 9-10 in the head-to-head meetings this year. As a result, they would not have home-field advantage if the teams need to play a Game 163 to determine the NL West.
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