Philadelphia has already clinched a playoff berth. The Dodgers’ magic number for matching that is five after Monday’s 6–5 extra-inning loss to the Phillies.
So the chances are high the teams will meet again in the postseason, which makes this week’s series at Dodger Stadium a great opportunity to do a little scouting.
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“We try to gather as much information as we can,” infielder Miguel Rojas said. “They’re doing the same thing.”
That’s not the main objective, though. Because if the Dodgers are closing in on a playoff berth, they aren’t there yet. And they have even more work to do after Monday’s game, which ended with J.T. Realmuto’s 10th-inning sacrifice fly scoring ghost runner Harrison Bader with the winning run for Philadelphia.
Read more: Q&A: Here’s what’s at stake for the Dodgers over the final two weeks
“With where we’re at, I’m trying to win every game,” said manager Dave Roberts, whose team fought back from deficits three times before falling. “And where it falls out is where it falls out.”
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Where the Dodgers are is two games in front of idle San Diego in the National League West. Their magic number for clinching an 11th division title in 12 seasons is 10 with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
But the Dodgers also entered the Phillies series with their eyes on the No. 2 seed in the postseason tournament, a spot Philadelphia holds and one that brings with it a bye in the first round. It’s a break Roberts’ battered roster could use.
But it’s one that became more elusive when Monday’s win pushed the Phillies’ lead to 5½ games in the race for No. 2, a deficit the Dodgers have just 12 games to make up.
Read more: Will Shohei Ohtani boost the bullpen in the playoffs? Dodgers weigh complex options
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“It’s really hard to not face these games down the stretch like a playoff game,” Rojas said. “We’ve been doing this for almost two weeks now. That’s the way that we have to look at it if we want to be prepared for October.”
Left-hander Jack Dreyer agreed.
“Obviously it’s fun to think about the playoffs,” he said. “But right now, we’re just focused on this series and do[ing] whatever we can to perform for this series.”
That doesn’t mean players won’t remember how individual matchups unfold during this series or the next one against the San Francisco Giants, another potential playoff opponent.
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“There are absolutely things that you can kind of pick up on and try to use in the future,” Dreyer said. “Every time that you’re playing guys, you can kind of deposit those memories into your brain for the future. Because you’re bound to face the same guys over and over again.”
One memory Dreyer won’t soon forget is the 2-0 fastball he threw to Weston Wilson in the seventh, a pitch Wilson, the Phillies’ ninth-place hitter, drove 417 feet to dead center for a go-ahead home run.
Read more: Another offensive outburst carries Dodgers to series win over Giants
Two matchups Roberts did want to see Monday was left-hander Anthony Banda facing the Phillies’ two left-handed sluggers, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. So he sent the reliever out to open the game.
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That didn’t work out well, with Schwarber driving a 2-2 pitch into the second row of the right-centerfield bleachers for his league-best 53rd homer of the year. It was the first homer Banda had given up since Aug. 4.
Banda then walked Harper before leaving in favor of right-hander Emmet Sheehan, who didn’t give up another hit until Otto Kemp opened the seventh with a ground-rule double to left.
That led Roberts to pull Sheehan for Dreyer, who gave up an RBI single to Bryson Stott followed by Wilson’s two-run homer, which gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead.
Dodgers relief pitcher Emmet Sheehan throws to the plate during the first inning of a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday at Dodger Stadium. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
The Dodgers got their first run in the third, when Andy Pages led off with a double into the left-field corner, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Mookie Betts fly ball just short of the warning track in center.
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Two innings later, Max Muncy put the Dodgers in front with a leadoff home run to right, his first since returning from the injured list a week ago. Betts made it 3-1 with another sacrifice fly to center later in the inning, giving him 18 RBIs in September and 77 for the season, two better than his total last year.
Betts added to that in seventh, tying the game with a two-out homer, his 19th of the season, matching his total from last season.
Harper answered in the eighth, putting the Phillies back in front, only to have Pages even things again with one out in the ninth with his 25th homer of the season off Phillies closer Jhoan Durán, sending the game to extra innings.
The game ended with Muncy grounding out with the bases loaded against Philadelphia right-hander David Robertson.
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Stewart reports for rehab assignment
Reliever Brock Stewart, the Dodgers’ most celebrated acquisition at the trade deadline, left Monday to join Oklahoma City for a two-game rehab assignment. Stewart, on the injured list since Aug. 12 with right shoulder inflammation, is expected to pitch Tuesday and Thursday in Triple A before returning to Dodger Stadium.
“If all goes well, then we have a conversation over the weekend,” Roberts said of Stewart’s availability. “We’ve just got to make sure he’s healthy. If he’s right, then it could be very additive.”
Dodgers honor Betts’ philanthropy
For the second straight year Betts has been chosen as the Dodgers’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, baseball’s most prestigious off-the-field prize, in recognition for his wide-ranging charity work.
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In January, Betts’ 5050 Foundation donated more than $30,000 of Nike clothing to victims of the Southern California wildfires. A few weeks later, in partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF), he donated more than $160,000 to the Brotherhood Crusade to help fight hunger and homelessness in Los Angeles.
Also this season the 5050 Foundation partnered with the Obama Foundation at Hyde Park Academy to donate youth sports equipment and other supplies while also funding the Mookie Betts Metro Baseball Tournament in Nashville.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
