It's all but certain that the Dodgers and Giants will both make the postseason this year, but it remains to be seen which one will take the NL West. Starting Monday, a series between the two teams in Los Angeles should go a long way toward deciding which team will be forced into a pressure-packed wild card spot after 162 games.
Monday MLB viewing guide: Dodgers, Giants meet in L.A. to decide NL West
Los Angeles can put away the division at home starting Monday against San Francisco.
Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
The Dodgers should feel fairly comfortable at this point with their 4½-game advantage over San Francisco, but the pressure is on over the next few days. A solid showing in this series -- winning two of three, or better -- would put away the division and allow the team to rest up a little bit during its season-ending series against the Rockies.
Things are a bit less rosy for the Giants, who still haven’t guaranteed their postseason spot and would need to play extremely well in L.A. to keep their division title hopes alive. Bruce Bochy’s team has a 4½-game cushion on the wild card, so the playoff spot is pretty safe, but letting the Dodgers pull away with the division would be disappointing.
Monday's MLB schedule
Time (ET) | Game | TV | Reason to watch |
7:05 p.m. | Royals at Indians | Fox Sports Kansas City, SportsTime Ohio | Kansas City tries desperately to hold onto its wild card spot while Cleveland looks to keep its scant hopes alive |
| Indians at Royals | Fox Sports Kansas City, SportsTime Ohio | The two teams not only play a full nine-inning game Monday, but also finish off their suspended contest from Aug. 31 |
7:05 p.m | MASN, YES Network | Michael Pineda has a 2.15 ERA, but New York is 4-7 in his starts | |
7:07 p.m. | Mariners at Blue Jays | ROOT Northwest, Sportsnet | Can Seattle keep up with KC in the standings? |
7:08 p.m. | White Sox at Tigers | CSN Chicago, Fox Sports Detroit | This could be a division-clinching series for Detroit |
7:10 p.m. | Pirates at Braves | ROOT Pittsburgh, SportSouth | Pittsburgh has allowed just 37 runs over its past 16 games (13-3 record) |
8:05 p.m. | Astros at Rangers | CSN Houston, Fox Sports Southwest | Texas could hand off the "MLB's worst record" title to Arizona with a win |
8:05 p.m. | Cardinals at Cubs | Fox Sports Midwest, WGN | The final series at Wrigley Field this year begins with Adam Wainwright going for his 20th win |
8:10 p.m. | Diamondbacks at Twins | FOX Sports Arizona, FOX Sports North | Arizona could be able to end its free fall against a struggling Twins team |
10:05 p.m. | FOX Sports West, CSN California | The Angels look to spoil Oakland's postseason hopes after clinching the division earlier this month | |
10:10 p.m. | CSN Bay Area, SportsNet LA | See the intro. The NL West is on the line, more or less | |
10:10 p.m. | Rockies at Padres | ROOT Rocky Mountain, FOX Sports San Diego | Tyler Matzek has dropped his ERA over a run in the past five weeks |
- Lots of guys are done for the season, including Alex Rios (link), Dallas Keuchel (link) and, most likely, Carlos Beltran (link)
- Joe Maddon on the lack of scoring these days:
"The hitter's at a total disadvantage right now," Maddon said. "And there's no advantages on the horizon. I don't see it. That's why it's going to take a lot of creative thinking.
"It could be just going back maybe to something that had been done before. I'm not sure. But right now, offense is going south, and it's going to continue going south based on pitching and defense. Everything, data, video, all the information benefits them over offense."
- Pretty fantastic sliding catch by Enrique Hernandez right here
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