The Dodgers found themselves in danger of losing the NL West race as they took a 3-4 loss on Friday, but came back to win two straight and are now set to move on as NL West champs in the NLDS.
Randy Wolf suffered his first loss in two months, though he held the Rockies to just two runs through five. He didn’t get much offensive support to help him out, with Ubaldo Jimenez holding the Dodgers to one run on two hits. The Dodgers answered the Rockies’ two runs in the seventh with two of their own in the bottom half, including a leadoff solo shot by Russell Martin, but fell short in the loss.
Clayton Kershaw tossed a three-hit shutout on Saturday as the Dodgers clinched the NL West title. He also notched 10 K’s, but couldn’t pick up the win. Hong-Chih Kuo got the win, tossing a perfect seventh. The Dodgers were shut out at the plate until the seventh, where they rallied for five runs. Juan Pierre, Matt Kemp, Manny, Belliard, and Loretta all knocked in a run apiece, with Belliard and Loretta getting pinch-hit RBI’s.
Vincente Padilla picked up the win in Sunday’s rubber match, holding the Rockies to one run on four hits while striking out 10 in just five innings. The Dodgers then used a handful of relievers before Troncoso picked up the save, though he did allow one run in the ninth. At the plate, Doug Mientkiewicz, Juan Pierre, and Hu all had multi-hit games, and Casey Blake knocked in two runs.
The Dodgers end the regular season with a 95-67 record. They are set to face the Cardinals at home in the NLDS on Wednesday. Randy Wolf will make the start for the Dodgers in his playoff debut. He will face Chris Carpenter, who, if he had not started off the season on the DL, would’ve likely been the front-runner for the NL Cy Young award. He had a 17-4 record with a 2.94 ERA this season, with only one of the losses coming since June 30.
