Dodgers’ new challenge is to build on sweep of Giants

Now that had to feel pretty good for the Boys in Blue. Sweeping San Francisco after the Giants had pushed them around all season. Going up by a season-high 6½ games.

They should feel good about it, just not too good. Not like their work is done, that the four-game series they’re about to start in San Diego on Thursday is just so much required work.

Right now the Dodgers are feeling very good about themselves, but they need to build on it, continue to push themselves, continue to develop that newfound swagger.

The absolute last thing they need to do is head to San Diego feeling so satisfied about their sweep of the Giants that they don’t give the Padres their proper due and get surprised by a San Diego ambush.

“We’re a good team,” said Clayton Kershaw. “We’re starting to play like that day in and day out, which is huge.

“We can’t relax now. Playing a big series against the Giants like this, you might have a tendency to relax [when] you go play San Diego just because they’re a little bit behind in the standings. We have to really keep the foot on the gas pedal going down there and make sure we don’t have any letdown.”

The Padres won five consecutive games and pulled within a game of .500 on Aug. 22, but have since lost seven of their last 10. It could be easy to take them lightly.

“Having that momentum is always great, especially when you’re coming off of a sweep, but you still have do your job within the division,” said catcher Yasmani Grandal.

The Dodgers have been trying to find their mojo all season. It’s been marked by remarkable ups and downs. Now they’re beginning to strut a bit, maybe finally developing into that team most of Los Angeles has been waiting on all season.

Last season the Dodgers went to San Francisco at the end of July trailing the Giants by one game. They swept them to go up by one. They never did surrender the lead.

So the sweep can mean something significant, but how the Dodgers respond could prove telling. None of them believe the Giants are just going to quietly fade away. The last week of the season, they play four games in San Francisco.

“Great team,” Kershaw said. “I expect those last four games in San Fran to matter.”

Hopefully, they expect the four in San Diego to matter, too.

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