Dodgers Waiting to Exhale

Only 11 victories separate the Dodgers from their first National League West title in nine years.

With 13 games to play, that’s the Dodgers’ magic number to eliminate the second-place San Francisco Giants. Any combination of Dodger wins and San Francisco losses that totals 11 also works.

Not surprisingly, though, the Dodgers said the situation isn’t so simple.

“Let me tell you, bro, it’s not going to be easy,” pitcher Jose Lima said. “When you’ve got to play your division at the end of the season, with a championship on the line, every game seems like two games, three games.

“But you want to know something? This team knows how to win. We’ve got that feeling now.”

They hope to maintain it for the remainder of their last trip against the San Diego Padres and Giants -- who trail the Dodgers by 2 1/2 games in the division -- and on a closing homestand against the Colorado Rockies and Giants. The Dodgers, who open a three-game series tonight at Petco Park, have played well overall against the division, but not recently.

They dropped three of four in their previous series against the Padres at Dodger Stadium and struggled to win the opening series of the trip against Colorado. The Giants have applied pressure this month, taking the lead in the NL wild-card race, and the Dodgers don’t enjoy playing at SBC Park.

The series at San Francisco could become even more challenging if first baseman Shawn Green, who is Jewish, decides to sit out the first two games in observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

The games fall within the Jewish Day of Atonement, which starts at sundown Friday and ends at sundown Saturday.

“It’s still something I don’t want to discuss until later” in the week, Green said. “I don’t want to have a lot of discussion about it now. I’m going to say something about it soon, but now isn’t the time.”

The two-time All-Star sat out a game in September 2001 while the Dodgers were battling for a playoff spot. Green did not have to make a similar decision last year because the holiday occurred during the playoffs.

“We’d love to have a bigger lead and have these games not matter, but we’re where we’re at and it’s better than where we’ve been in a long time,” second baseman Alex Cora said. “We don’t have to worry about two other teams trying to beat teams ahead of us. We control our own destiny.

“We’ve been playing good baseball against the division, which really helps. We know that we’ve played good in San Diego, and we’ve got a lot of confidence against the Giants. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, but it is what it is.”

The Dodgers (86-63) are 40-23 against the NL West. They finished 16-3 against the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks and also have winning records against the Giants, Padres and Rockies.

“This is what we’ve wanted,” third baseman Adrian Beltre said. “We’re in first place, everyone is chasing us and all we have to do is keep winning.”

In winning two games at Coors Field last weekend, the Dodgers twice overcame five-run deficits. Green hit a dramatic two-out, two-strike, two-run home run in the ninth inning to cap a 7-6 win in the final game.

“We really didn’t deserve to win,” center fielder Milton Bradley said. “We just got some quality hits at the right time and escaped with a ‘W,’ and we needed to win because it’s only going to get tougher now.”

The Padres (80-70) are 6 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the division and trail the Giants (84-66) by four games in the NL wild-card race. The Dodgers are 9-7 against San Diego, 4-2 at their new ballpark.

“San Diego is pretty far behind us, considering where we are in the season, but they still have a pulse,” Green said.

“They need to win every day now, so it would be nice to knock ‘em out.”

Although the Giants are 7-1 in their last eight games, the Dodgers said handling the Padres is the key to their title hopes.

“I don’t even care about San Francisco right now,” Lima said. “They might be an issue for us later or they might not be an issue. If we can take care of business in San Diego, if we win the series, then that’s it right there. The Giants would probably have to win every ballgame to win the [NL] West.

“At the same time, bro, we cannot afford to be down every game, 5-0, 5-1, to San Diego or San Francisco. I know we came from behind against Colorado, but it’s not going to happen like that against those guys this late in the year. San Diego and San Francisco won’t let that happen.”

The Rockies (64-85) are 29-45 on the road and eager to end another disappointing season. The Dodgers play host to the Rockies from Sept. 27-30 and the Giants in the teams’ final three games, beginning Oct. 1.

“Until we get what we want, we’re going to play the same way against everybody,” closer Eric Gagne said. “But if you start thinking about it too much, that’s when you get out of your element.

“You start thinking about the wrong things instead of just going out there and winning games. I don’t care how you do it, just do it, and we’ve got 11 games left to do it.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Dodger Pitching by the Month

A look at the Dodgers’ record and team earned-run average each month this season:

*--* MONTH W-L ERA APRIL 14-8 4.41 MAY 13-14 3.33 JUNE 12-14 4.63 JULY 21-7 3.43 AUGUST 17-11 3.44 SEPTEMBER 9-9 4.95

*--*

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Dodgers Down The Stretch

Tentative Matchups

AT SAN DIEGO

Tonight-Thursday

* Tonight -- Jeff Weaver (12-11, 3.77) vs. Adam Eaton (10-13, 4.72).

* Wednesday -- Brad Penny (9-9, 3.02) vs. Jake Peavy (12-6, 2.40).

* Thursday -- Wilson Alvarez (7-6, 4.24) vs. David Wells (11-7, 3.60)

AT SAN FRANCISCO

Friday-Sunday

* Friday -- Odalis Perez (6-6, 3.39) vs. Kirk Rueter (8-11, 4.82).

* Saturday -- Jose Lima (13-5, 4.06) vs. Jerome Williams (9-7, 4.41).

* Sunday -- Jeff Weaver (12-11, 3.77) vs. Brett Tomko (10-6, 4.26)

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Magic Number

Dodgers’ magic number for clinching NL West title: 11

Note: The magic number is derived by adding one to the number of remaining Dodger games and subtracting the number of games ahead in the loss column from the next team.

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On Deck

* Opponent -- San Diego Padres, three games.

* Tonight -- 7.

* Site -- Petco Park.

* TV -- FSNW 2 tonight and Wednesday, Channel 13 on Thursday.

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

* Records -- Dodgers 86-63, Padres 80-70.

* Record vs. Padres -- 9-7.

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Familiar Foes

Tonight, Jeff Weaver, above, of the Dodgers and Adam Eaton of the Padres start against each other for the sixth time this season. A look at the previous five encounters, and the winner and loser of each game:

*--* Date Result * April 7 at Dodgers 2, Padres 1 WP: Lima LP: Oropesa * April 13 at Padres 8, Dodgers 3 WP: Eaton LP: Weaver * July 25 Padres 3, at Dodgers 0 WP: Eaton LP: Weaver * July 30 Dodgers 12, at Padres 3 WP: Weaver LP: Eaton * Sept. 16 Padres 3, at Dodgers 0 WP: Eaton LP: Weaver

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Weaver’s and Eaton’s stats in those games:

*--* Pitcher IP H ER BB SO W-L ERA Weaver 32.2 33 13 6 23 1-3 3.58 Eaton 32.2 25 10 6 20 3-1 2.76

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