Dodgers Struggle as Padres Close In on National League West

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00:00Getting out to the West Coast here, the Dodgers, do they want to win anything?

00:04500 in the last 10 games, 77 wins on the season, no longer the best team in Major League Baseball,

00:09no longer the best record here, of course, in the National League.

00:11They're only a game up on the San Diego Padres as we head down the stretch.

00:16This is going to be a fun one to watch.

00:17This isn't your dad's Dodgers of the April and May.

00:20Like, boy, are they going to put up 115 wins, Tom?

00:22They're starting to tread water, and that could be an issue.

00:26It really is an issue, and I would say these two games,

00:29these two most recent games the past few days, against the Diamondbacks.

00:32It's a divisional opponent.

00:33Divisional opponents always play you tough.

00:35I would say more so how it has happened and who it has happened against.

00:40Zach Gallin and Eduardo Rodriguez over these past two games for the Diamondbacks,

00:45and these are the pitchers the Dodgers are struggling against.

00:48It's okay to lose games to a divisional opponent,

00:50but when Gallin and Erod have been largely terrible this year

00:54and you can't get hits across them,

00:55that is more concerning than simply losing a game to the Diamondbacks.

01:00So that's the concern.

01:01And Mookie's had his struggles.

01:03He's been better as of late.

01:04Otani, you know, he's been a little bit up and down with him getting back in the mountains.

01:07That impact is hitting.

01:08Freddie Freeman has been largely good for most of the season,

01:11but the Oscar Hernandez has not been good.

01:13Pajes, I think, had a really strong start to the season.

01:16He hasn't been super consistent.

01:17The lineup is all over the place.

01:18The Padres have to see this as an opportunity to strike

01:21and get back into the division lead.

01:23And as Tom's going to bring up a little bit later in the show,

01:26you want to get hot at the plate?

01:27Starts maybe getting hot in the stands and hot on the field.

01:2990 degree temperatures out there in Los Angeles today.

01:32Maybe that ball carries just a little bit further for some RBI and home run action.

01:36We'll find out a little bit later on that.

01:38But if we do look at the wild card standings, season ends today, Tom.

01:41Cubs, playoffs.

01:42Padres, playoffs.

01:43Mets, playoffs.

01:44And we actually thought maybe a week ago, look at the Cincinnati Reds.

01:48The Mets are really struggling.

01:50They're going to close that gap.

01:51It's now back up to a five-game lead for the Mets over the Cincinnati Reds.

01:55All that goodwill blown up.

01:57Why?

01:57They're 2-8 in their last 10.

01:59Five straight losses.

02:00Great when they're on the cusp of forcing the Mets to have some issues.

02:04The Mets go on and beat the Philadelphia Phillies.

02:06And then you go into the losing tank for the Reds.

02:09This is something I can point back to that we just talked about in the last one.

02:12Maybe it's just a little bit of pedigree.

02:14Like, they just don't have it yet.

02:15They just don't have the depth.

02:16They don't have the experience to know, like, when you are struggling,

02:19that you have to, you know, when things are going bad,

02:21like, you don't want to compound those bad issues.

02:23You kind of just want to tread water and then kind of find your way back to

02:26until things are going well.

02:28And the Reds just don't have that type of pedigree with such a young team yet.

02:32So this could be, like, the step where it's like, oh, this is their first step.

02:34And next year, they're really going to be in contention.

02:37But until they can put the pieces together, the Mets, they were struggling.

02:40Reds had their chance.

02:41And that time is kind of gone at this point.

02:43Yeah, it looks like we're solidified here in the National League, right?

02:46The American League, a little bit more up for grabs.

02:48But we still don't think anybody's really going to close that gap because the teams,

02:51the Royals, the Rangers, and the Guardians, I just don't think are good enough.

02:53But good enough and being back two games is a little bit different than,

02:56I don't know if you're good enough five games, five and a half games back,

02:59as the Diamondbacks and the Cardinals sit.

03:00So I'll ask you the same question quickly on this.

03:02From the American League to the National League, are we set right now?

03:05We just know the teams.

03:06We just don't know the actual standings of those teams.

03:08Because I don't think the Reds, back five games, are going to make enough of a charge

03:12to leapfrog the New York Mets and, let's just say, the Padres have an eight-game lead

03:16over the Reds.

03:18I would say the National League is set.

03:20The American League, if one of those teams at the bottom end falls out,

03:24and let's just say the Royals end one of the season series versus the White Sox,

03:29and they can pick up three easy wins, there could be a route to the Red Sox

03:33or the Mariners somehow falling out, and then therefore the Royals sneak in.

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