Dodgers postseason will start on Tuesday, September 30
The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, clinching a bye straight into the National League Division Series. The Milwaukee Brewers and Phillies will be the top two seeds in the NL playoffs, which means no matter how the Dodgers finish out their schedule this week, they will be playing in the wild card round.
The wild card round is a best-of-3 series with all games in the location of the better seed, and is played from Tuesday, September 30 to potentially Thursday, October 2.
Philadelphia earned its 93rd win on Wednesday, and the Dodgers already have 69 losses meaning the best they could do is tie the Phillies on Sunday. But the Phillies won four of six games between the two teams, giving them the tiebreaker. The Brewers have 96 wins.
The Dodgers have 88 wins and entered Wednesday night with a magic number of two to clinch the NL West.
If they win the division, they’ll get the No. 3 seed, which would host the No. 6 seed in the wild card round. If the Dodgers lose the division, they’ll either be the No. 4 seed (currently the 88-69 Cubs) or the No. 5 seed (currently the 87-72 Padres).
The current No. 6-seed Mets already have 76 losses, so the Dodgers are guaranteed to finish higher than them. Entering Wednesday, the Mets were in a dogfight for that final playoff spot, leading both the Reds and Diamondbacks by one game, with five left to play.
In the wild card round, the No. 3 seed hosts the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed hosts No. 5. The 3/6 winner plays the No. 2 seed in the Division Series, and the 4/5 winner plays the No. 1 seed.
In addition to starting in the wild card round, the Dodgers as the three, four, or five seed would also start the NLDS on the road should they advance. So we can at least glean the possible home games at Dodger Stadium through the first two rounds.
Dodgers potential home games in first two rounds
Wild card round (if No. 3 or No. 4 seed)
Game 1: Tuesday, September 30
Game 2: Wednesday, October 1
Game 3*: Thursday, October 2
Potential home games in NLDS
Game 3: Wednesday, October 8
Game 4*: Thursday, October 9
*if necessary
Category: General Sports
