Time for Dodgers to seize the division and then keep it rolling

Three games. Three little wins by the Boys in Blue or three losses by the Giants or any combination of the two that adds up to three.

And the Dodgers are the National League West champions for a third consecutive year.

There are 10 regular-season games remaining. The Dodgers can capture the West with a sweep this weekend in Denver and it would not matter what the Giants do against the A’s.

If they would prefer to get it over with and not have to head to San Francisco on Monday to open a four-game series with the Giants still clinging to life, it would not be the end of the world to celebrate the division title at AT&T Park, either.

It is very close now, so close that you expect the Dodgers to go out and seize the moment in Denver. The Rockies demonstrated last week at Dodger Stadium, however, that they are going to battle the Dodgers tough all the way.

Should the Dodgers earn the division title this weekend, they are a mature enough team to realize they still cannot let up. The Dodgers remain two games up on the Mets in the loss column for home-field advantage in the N.L. division series.

“You want to get it taken care of, but there are other things out there too, other than clinching. It’s no secret,” catcher A.J. Ellis said Sunday. “We’re trying to open the NLDS here at home. It’s a cross-country trip, assuming the Mets are on the other side. It’s tough, it’s tough to travel. Limit it to only one trip to New York, that would be huge for us.

“Plus having Clayton [Kershaw] and Zach [Greinke] both pitching here at Dodger Stadium, and the way we’ve played this year at home. I think it’s most important for us to try and lock up that home-field advantage.”

The Dodgers are 52-26 at home (now second to the Cardinals’ 54-24) and 35-39 on the road.

Teams that have kept playing hard and well to the end often carry that momentum into the postseason. Certainly, the wild-card Giants did last year.

Not that it exactly worked out for the Dodgers last season. They ended on a five-game winning streak to finish ahead of the Cardinals for the home-field advantage, and then lost the series in four games.

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The Dodgers have other work to accomplish in these last 10 games: see who amongst the injured can return and contribute, figure out the playoff rotation, firm up the bullpen arms. They have depth this year, particularly in the infield, and some tough choices will have to be made.

But first comes Denver. If a division title seems inevitable now, it’s best to go out and win it. It is so very close now. Close enough to grasp, which is exactly what they should do.

Follow Steve Dilbeck on Twitter @SteveDilbeck

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