The Dodgers on September 14 beat the Reds to clinch a playoff berth for the 14th season in a row, tying the major league record also held by the Atlanta Braves, who made it to 14 consecutive postseasons from 1991-2005.
Los Angeles won again in Cincinnati on September 15, which eliminated the Arizona Diamondbacks from National League West contention. Then the Dodgers beat the Reds on September 16, ensuring they’d finish ahead of the San Diego Padres and clinching the fifth consecutive division title
for Los Angeles and 13th in the last 14 years.
Clinching a bye
The two division winners with the best records get a bye directly into the National League Division Series, which means beginning the postseason on Saturday, October 3 instead of in the wild card round on Tuesday, September 29.
NL division leaders
- Brewers 98-59
- Dodgers 96-60
- Braves 92-65
through Brewers and Braves games on September 22
The Dodgers do not have the tiebreaker with either the Brewers or Braves, which means they have to have a better record to gain a higher seed. The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch at least the No. 2 seed over Atlanta is two, or put another way the Dodgers need two of 11 outcomes to fall their way in order to finish with a better record than the Braves. Meanwhile, Atlanta needs 10 of 11 outcomes to claim the No. 2 seed.
Getting the No. 1 seed over Milwaukee is a tougher task for the Dodgers, who have a magic number of eight to finish with the best record in the National League. That means the Dodgers need eight of 11 outcomes to fall their way to earn the No. 1 seed, while the Brewers need just four of 11 outcomes to have the best NL record for the second year in a row.
