They just might be sitting pretty

There just might be something heavenly about this season. Manna did not fall from heaven, but Manny did, sustenance without cost. And now the skies could open up, raining down upon the East Coast and raising up the Dodgers.

Laugh all you want about the Dodgers lucking into the playoffs, as the best team in the worst division, with a record worse than that of the Houston Astros. But the Dodgers could have the last laugh, and the best draw.

They’ll open the playoffs Wednesday, somewhere but not here. They’ll be sitting pretty as three teams fight for the last two National League playoff spots -- the longer the fight, the better for the Dodgers.

“Tire ‘em all out,” Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said. “That’s fine with me.”

The Chicago Cubs, as the NL team with the best record, draws the NL wild card. That should leave the Dodgers to play the NL East champion, except that the Cubs cannot open against the wild-card team if that team comes from its division. So, if the Milwaukee Brewers win the wild card, the Dodgers would play the Cubs.

The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies remain in contention for the NL East championship. The Mets, Phillies and Brewers remain in contention for the NL wild card.

If that three-way race extends to Sunday, the Mets are scheduled to start Johan Santana, and the Phillies are scheduled to start Cole Hamels.

That would preclude either one from starting Game 1 of the playoffs, and then the Mets and Phillies would have to decide whether to use their ace on short rest in Game 2, or hold him for Game 3.

“If they don’t have their No. 1 going, it makes a huge difference,” Dodgers infielder Casey Blake said.

In the meantime, the Dodgers have Derek Lowe rested and ready for Game 1, with Chad Billingsley set for Game 2.

Any tiebreakers are scheduled to be played Monday, which would burn a No. 2 starter for the participating teams.

But rain is forecast for the East Coast this weekend, raising the possibility that makeup games could be needed Monday, pushing any tiebreaker game to Tuesday.

And, in the case of a three-way tie among the Phillies, Mets and Brewers, there would be one tiebreaker Monday and another Tuesday, weather permitting.

“I hope they play until Wednesday,” Dodgers coach Larry Bowa said, “and I hope they have an extra-inning game. We’ll move back to Thursday. I don’t mind.”

The deliciously unpredictable nature of the playoffs means that an advantage is just that -- an advantage, not a guaranteed outcome. The Dodgers still could play the Cubs, and face Ryan Dempster -- not Carlos Zambrano -- in Game 1.

The Dodgers will not have home-field advantage in any round of the playoffs. Neither did the Angels in 2002, when they won the World Series.

In the last eight years, the team with the best record entering the playoffs has won the World Series once. The team with the worst record entering the playoffs has won the World Series twice -- the St. Louis Cardinals two years ago and Torre’s New York Yankees in 2000.

The Dodgers this year?

Torre thought back to 2006. His Yankees drew the Detroit Tigers, a team that lost its last five games in the regular season, including a sweep by the Kansas City Royals. Surely the Yankees would roll.

“They dispatched us quickly,” Torre said. “That was the end of that.

“Be careful what you wish for. This game is so unpredictable.”

So are the Dodgers’ travel plans. They’ll fly home from San Francisco on Sunday, then fly to the playoffs Monday. If they’re still awaiting word on their opponent, they’ll fly to Chicago and wait, for a few hours, maybe for a day.

The longer they have to wait there, the better their chances in the playoffs. They might be the first airline customers ever to root for a travel delay.

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com

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Freeway Series?

This year marks the second time the Angels and Dodgers have reached the same postseason. The seasons at least one of the teams advanced to the playoffs (shaded areas denote teams that qualified for postseason):

*--* ANGELS YEAR DODGERS 99-60 2008 83-76 94-68 2007 82-80 89-73 2006 88-74* 95-67 2005 71-91 92-70 2004 93-69 99-63* 2002 92-70 70-91 1996 90-72* 78-67 1995 78-66 47-68 1994 58-56+ 75-87 1988 94-67 92-70 1986 73-89 90-72 1985 95-67 70-92 1983 91-71 93-69 1982 88-74 51-59 1981 63-47++ 88-74 1979 79-83 87-75 1978 95-67 74-88 1977 98-64 68-94 1974 102-70 80-82 1966 95-67 75-87 1965 97-65 70-91 1963 99-63 *--*

*--* * -- Made playoffs as wild card + -- Postseason canceled because of players’ strike ++ -- Won NL West in first half of strike-shortened regular season -- Times research *--*