Dodgers must feed the beast every game until end is actually here
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen celebrates with catcher A.J. Ellis after beating the Angels 7-5 Monday night.
The Dodgers have reached that pivotal point where the season’s end has not yet arrived, but they can see it from here.
The Dodgers have won 12 of their last 14 games to suddenly take command of the National League West. They have an 8½-game lead. Their Magic Number is down to 17. In the last 14 games they’ve increased their division lead by seven games.
At this point, there are two ways they can go. Relax a bit or smell blood. Relax and who knows what happens? Stranger things have ensued than teams blowing an almost nine-game lead on Sept. 8, though not many.
But the Dodgers are on such a great roll right now, they appear to have no interest in coasting in or feeling like they’ve taken control.
“I don’t really want to feel like anything, other than just try to win every night,” said Manager Don Mattingly. “We’re playing good right now. There’s nothing wrong with riding that, just continuing to try win a game every night.”
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, keep those Dodgers movin’
That’s the kind of attitude a winning team is supposed to take, of course. Ride it out until it dries up, and then start again. Particularly in September. Even if they don’t have the best overall record, the hot September team is often the World Series champion. Or so they say in San Francisco.
“We’re playing well and we just played the team that’s chasing us and took care of business there,” said Scott Van Slyke. “We’re just trying to get as many wins as we can before the season ends to make it hard on the Giants.”
Monday night they won a painfully, absurdly long, bizarre game over the Angels that used 41 players and took nearly four hours to play. In the end, it was another victory. You celebrate a moment and then return the next day focused on the game at hand.
The Dodgers have 25 games to play. If they can see the end, best to remain hungry to get there.
MORE DODGERS NEWS:
Dodgers roll -- and ricochet -- on with 7-5 win over Angels
Dodgers to give Mat Latos another start Wednesday vs. Angels
Yasmani Grandal scratched from Dodgers lineup with bruised shoulder
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