Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Stretch run scrutiny: Breaking down the remaining Dodger and Giant schedules

San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Well, that was lovely. Now what?

In late July, we talked about how difficult the San Francisco Giants’ schedule would be from August 6-September 2, when they faced 26 consecutive games against winning teams. Aside from a four-game sweep of the Nationals, it didn’t go great.

  • August 6-9: at Chicago (0-4)
  • August 11-12: vs. Houston (1-1)
  • August 13-16: vs. Washington (4-0)
  • August 17-19: at St. Louis (1-2)
  • August 20-23: at Pittsburgh (1-3)
  • August 25-27: vs. Chicago (2-1)
  • August 28-30: vs. St. Louis (1-2)
  • August 31-September 2: at Los Angeles (0-3)

A three-game sweep of the Dodgers would made the defending World Series champion Giants triumphant — muddied but unbowed tug-o’-war survivors at the state fair. It would have meant a 13-13 run through the gauntlet, cutting the Dodgers’ National League West lead to 1/2 game.

Instead, San Francisco was dragged to a 10-16 crumble through the 26 games, sliding 6 1/2 games behind Los Angeles.

But today’s a new day, September practically a new month, and the Giants do have much easier possibilities for feats of strength in their remaining 29 games — 25 of which are against sub-.500 teams.

Let’s look at the final 32 days of the regular season. Of the Giants’ 29 remaining games, 18 are identical with those of the Dodgers:

  • six games vs. Colorado (three at home)
  • six games vs. Arizona (three at home)
  • six games vs. San Diego (three at home)

Here’s where the differences are:

  • Each team has three games on the road against an American League West team. San Francisco plays the 58-76 A’s, while Los Angeles plays the 67-66 Angels.
  • Each team hosts three games against a National League Central team. San Francisco plays the 55-77 Reds, while Los Angeles plays the 79-52 Pirates.
  • The Giants have a fourth road game at 54-78 Colorado, while the Dodgers have a fourth home game against 65-69 Arizona.
  • The Dodgers have a fourth road game at 64-69 San Diego, while the Giants have an off day.
  • The 69-64 Giants are home for four games against the 75-57 Dodgers (September 28-October 1).

Of those 11 different remaining games on the schedule, the Giants would appear to have an advantage in at least six of them, plus home-field advantage in the big four and an extra day of rest.

Winning eight consecutive games in which they’ve had a hit — the last five against playoff contenders — the Dodgers boosted their NL West lead from 1 1/2 games to 6 1/2 games. That advantage should be their shield, that assertion of strength their confidence, in taking on the challenging stretch run of the 2015 regular season.

Previous

Leapin’ legends: Kershaw has most strikeouts in a season since Koufax

Next

Corey Seager has arrived

5 Comments

  1. oldbrooklynfan

    To me it((Looks like)) the division is the Dodgers to lose. They can’t lose it but ———they can still blow it.

  2. Thanks for the comprehensive update and analysis of remaining schedules. Nice job!

    Read an article today that the Marlins are interested in hiring Mattingly. Any thoughts on that?

  3. Also need to have an eye on the Mets, one game up on them right now. Whoever has best record between the two will get game 5 at home in the NLDS. I believe Dodgers have the tiebreaker with them, so that’s helpful.

  4. Just looked, and I was incorrect, Mets actually have the tiebreaker against Dodgers, so Dodgers need to stay ahead of Mets by at least one game.

Comments are closed.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén