Dodgers have a huge schedule disadvantage in Sept.

[AztecBill]

The Giants only have to play OK to win the West. If they go .500 the Dodgers need 17-8 to tie. Without a sweep of the Giants in SF this weekend the Dodgers dreams of the NL West in 2012 seem very slim.

That leaves the wild card. The Dodgers are 1.5 games behind both Atlanta and the Cardinals. The Pirates are 1 game below the Dodgers. The Dodgers would only have to pass one of those teams while fending off the Pirates. That seems pretty doable, until you look at the schedule.

Remaining schedule

Games over/under .500, Team, Games to play.

Dodgers
+18 Giants - 6 games
+11 Padres - 3 games (after tonight. +11 since June)
-22 Rockies - 3 games
-03 DBacks - 2 games
+28 Reds - 3 games
+11 Cardinals - 4 games
+31 Nationals - 3 games

16 games against winning teams and 3 more against the Padres who have been winning big since June.

15 Road
10 Home

Cardinals
-03 Brewers - 3
+11 Padres - 3 games (after tonight. +11 since June)
+09 Dodgers - 4
-52 Houston - 6
-33 Cubs - 3
+28 Reds - 3 games
+31 Nationals - 3 games

Only 10 games against winning teams and 6 big games against the worst team in baseball.

12 Home
13 Road

Pirates
-52 Houston - 3
-33 Cubs - 7
+28 Reds - 6 games
-03 Brewers - 3
-07 Mets - 4
+16 Braves - 3

9 games against winning teams. 10 against the Cubs and Astros.

12 Homes
14 Road

Braves
-07 Mets - 6 games
-03 Brewers - 3 games
+31 Nationals - 3 games
-16 Miami - 6 games
-05 Phillies - 3 games
+07 Pirates - 3 games

Only 6 games against winning teams. 15 on the road but the Braves are 10 games over .500 on the road - one of the best in baseball.

09 Home
15 Road

[jdgaucho]

one has to figure that sooner or later, the Dodgers will wake up offensively.

[AztecBill]

Sept 5, 2012 15:49:24 GMT -8 jdgaucho said:

one has to figure that sooner or later, the Dodgers will wake up offensively.

They certainly have the players cable of going on a big run.

Interesting trivia showing how a team's offense can change quickly.

Texas Rangers Scoring
July #30 81 Runs in 23 games (3.52) - 9-14 Record
August #1 152 runs in 25 games (6.08) - 19-10 Record

[AztecBill]

Losing 2 of 3 to the Giants is a killer. The Dodgers 4 game home stand against the Cardinals this weekend could decide the second wild card team.

[AztecBill]

The next 9 games the Dodgers are on the road facing Washington, Cincinnati, and San Diego. The Cardinals face Houston, Chicago, and Houston. Killer.

Next 6 games opposing pitchers ERA.
LAD STL - Dif
3.01 5.08 2.07
2.41 3.86 1.45
3.16 4.93 1.77
3.74 6.26 2.54
3.76 4.23 0.47
3.93 6.24 2.31

The Dodgers will be facing the pitcher with the better ERA in all 6 games. While the Dodgers are on the road for all 6 the Cardinals play the first 3 at home. It doesn't get any better. After those 6 games the Dodgers face the Padres on the road and the Cardinals face the Astros on the road.

The Dodgers start this set of games 1 game behind the Cardinals. Saying the schedule is not in their favor is a huge understatement.

[AztecBill]

St Louis and the Dodgers were tied with one game left in their series on September 16. The Dodgers lost that final game and went 3-4 against the top of the league (reds and nationals) while St Louis went 6-1 against the bottom of the league (Houston and Chicago) . The schedule had its say and now the Dodgers are 3 games back in the wild card. The Cardinals are now playing Houston again and the Dodgers must face a Padres team that has been winning at a .600 clip for months now.

The good news for the Dodgers is that their last 6 games are at home. The bad news is, the Brewers (tied with the Dodgers) and the Cardinals also have their last 6 games at home and their home records (both 46-29) are much better than the Dodgers (40-35).