They Must Be at Best Against West

The Dodgers tonight begin their season-ending march through the National League West with much at stake.

The league’s wild-card berth is within reach as the Dodgers face division opponents in their final 24 games, starting with three against the Rockies at Coors Field. Only three games separate the Dodgers from co-leaders Florida and Philadelphia, but they’re entering rough terrain.

The Dodgers are 22-30 against the West and have a winning record only against the Rockies at 9-7. They have struggled, however, at Coors Field, going 1-5 in the first two series.

The seven-game trip concludes with four games against Arizona. The slumping Diamondbacks are fighting to remain in wild-card contention, so the Dodgers expect high intensity as they seek to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

“Everyone is definitely aware that it comes down to how we do against the division in these final games, and we’re looking forward to the challenge,” center fielder Dave Roberts said. “I don’t think anyone has looked at this trip as something to be worried about because of how we’ve played so far.

“We know we didn’t play well against the division early on, but there’s nothing we can do about that now. It all comes down to how we do right now, and we’re definitely still shooting at a goal.”

The Dodgers (72-66) revised their goals after flopping against the division at the start.

Players spoke confidently in spring training, believing they had the talent to do much more than simply win a division title.

Their optimism waned, however, as San Francisco pulled away from the pack in June, prompting players to privately acknowledge that earning the wild-card berth was their only shot at postseason play.

“Anybody who says we weren’t disappointed about the way we played early on would be lying,” catcher Paul Lo Duca said. “But the only thing that really matters is getting into the playoffs. Look at the Angels and the Giants last season.

“Does it matter to the Angels that they won the World Series as the wild card? All they care about is that they got in and won. You just have to get in, and you have a bunch of guys in here who believe we can.”

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ON DECK

Opponent -- Colorado Rockies, three games.

Site -- Coors Field, Denver.

TV -- Channel 13 on Sunday.

Radio -- KFWB (980), KWKW (1330).

Records -- Dodgers 72-66, Rockies 65-76.

Record vs. Rockies -- 9-7.

Tonight, 6 PDT -- Kazuhisa Ishii (9-5, 3.21) vs. Denny Stark (2-3, 6.00).

Saturday, noon -- Odalis Perez (11-10, 4.57) vs. Darren Oliver (10-10, 4.84).

Sunday, noon -- Wilson Alvarez (3-1, 2.57) vs. Jose Jimenez (1-7, 5.35).