Dodgers secure 11th NL West title in last 12 years with 4-3 win over Padres

The Los Angeles Dodgers secured their eleventh National League West title in the last twelve years with a 4-3 win on Wednesday night against their division rivals, the San Diego Padres.

They have also made it to the playoffs for the twelfth year in a row. This is by far the longest streak of any current team and the third longest in Major League Baseball history after the Atlanta Braves (1991 to 2005) and the New York Yankees (1995 to 2007).

Currently, the Boys in Blue have a record of 95-64, which gives them the most wins in MLB this season, but this will be their first season since 2018 where they fail to surpass 100 wins (excluding the shortened 2020 season).

Shohei Ohtani scored the winning run with a single before stealing his 56th base of the season in the sixth inning, ending the Padres’ five-game winning streak.

Already in playoff mode

For the Boys in Blue, who had already secured a place in the playoffs and whose race was much more exciting than in recent years, it was all about making a decision on Thursday evening, as both the Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks were hot on their heels in the race for the division title.

The highly anticipated meeting between the Dodgers and Padres – just three games apart at the start of the series – had exactly the playoff atmosphere that was expected, just a week before the official start of October baseball.

In Tuesday night’s game, their lead shrank when San Diego, after a three-RBI night from Jake Cronenworth and a dominant performance on the mound from Michael King, made an unlikely triple play and secured the 4-2 victory. Wednesday’s game was also a thrill, but the Dodgers were able to catch up and beat the Padres 4-3 and get one step closer to another NL West title.

The Padres remain 3 1/2 games ahead of Arizona and the New York Mets in the battle for the NL’s top wild card spot.

How did you get here?

This season was just another in a dominant streak that they have endured for much of the last decade. In addition to their NL West titles, several players have won major awards, a list that inevitably first 50-50 club member The season comes to an end in Shohei Ohtani.

The Dodgers were all but certain to gain an early lead in their division at the start of the year, and they did, but they faced stiff competition from their division rivals as the season progressed, earning them a narrow victory on Thursday.

Somehow they strengthened the already incredible lineup when they signed Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani to his 10-year, $700 million contract in the offseason. They also signed a Japanese star Jug Yoshinobu Yamamoto And traded for proven star Tyler Glasnow from the Rays, strengthening their strong starting lineup.

Injuries played a major role in the season, however, as every single starting pitcher ended up on the injured list at some point, a problem that continues to plague the team even as October approaches. Currently, key players like Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin and River Ryan are still on the injured list and are not expected to pitch in the playoffs.

This all seems to be business as usual for the Dodgers, who have continued to perform well despite having a number of injured players. They have been able to field a number of MLB-ready minor league players throughout the year and use them in every way possible to stake their claim as NL West champions. In a number of similar seasons, they have consistently earned their place in October despite putting a number of different players on the field than they did at the start of the year.

They have fought their way to the World Series three times in recent years, winning once against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020. Since then, however, their playoff run has been inexplicably disappointing, with two consecutive first-round exits in the National League Division Series, most recently to the Diamondbacks, who surprised them with a three-game sweep en route to their own World Series berth.

Despite some significant roster turnover since winning the title—key players like Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager and Justin Turner ended up on other teams—they have been able to continue their long winning streak through free agent signings, trades and a strong minor league system that continues to produce new star players every year.

What happens next?

The Boys in Blue have three more games to finish the season before heading to Denver to face the Colorado Rockies. After that, they have a first-round bye and await their first postseason opponent, who will face off in the wild-card round.

If the season ended today, they would face either the Padres or the New York Mets after they play a best-of-three series to see who advances to the NLDS.