LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers are coming off a much-needed series win, sweeping the Kansas City Royals, one of the worst teams in baseball in three close games, but now face one of the best with the Milwaukee Brewers coming to Dodger Stadium.
Starting Thursday the Dodgers host a Brewers team with the best record in the National League, a half-game behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the best in baseball. Milwaukee had the best record in MLB last season and home field advantage in the postseason. That didn’t stop the Dodgers from sweeping them in the National League Championship Series, after the Brewers won all six games against Los Angeles in the regular season.
That was an extreme series of outcomes. This year, the Dodgers took two of three games in Milwaukee from May 22-24. The Brewers come to town having just gotten swept in San Diego, which tightened up the top of the National League standings entering Thursday.
- Brewers (74-47, +130 run differential)
- Braves (73-48, +124)
- Dodgers (73-48, +142)
- Cubs (71-50, +115)
The division leaders with the two best records get the top two seeds, which comes with a bye directly into the Division Series. That means starting the postseason on Saturday, October 3, having a whole week to set up a pitching staff exactly how you want it.
The third division winner has to play a best-of-three wild card series first, all at their home stadium, from September 29-October 1. Having to play another series makes a postseason run more challenging. The Dodgers saw this firsthand last year, even though they ended it with another championship. In 2024, they had the bye and home field advantage in every series en route to a title.
How the Dodgers play in October will determine how they will fare, though giving themselves every advantage possible is the preferred outcome.
But also they just need to play better, going just 14-17 since July 4, even after the series sweep of Kansas City.
“Thinking about it on the plane [Sunday], we’re a wild card team right now, and we gotta get going, and play with urgency. We’ve got to make sure we don’t get ahead of the playoff situation, and talk about winning now, winning today and winning tomorrow,” manager Dave Roberts said Monday. “That’s the thing we need to get to, and then deal with whatever result. But I think that’s part of the ‘we’re gonna be okay,‘ ‘we’re good.‘ That’s not good enough, and clearly it’s not given how we’ve played in the last month. Across the board we need to play with more urgency, and our guys know that.”
Dodgers vs. Brewers pitching matchups
- Thursday: Roki Sasaki vs. LHP Shane Drohan, 7:10 p.m. (SportsNet LA, MLB Network)
- Friday: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. LHP Robert Gasser, 7:10 p.m. (SportsNet LA)
- Saturday: Justin Wrobleski vs. Jacob Misiorowski, 4:15 p.m. (Fox)
- Sunday: Tarik Skubal vs. Logan Henderson, 1:10 p.m. (SportsNet LA)