Dodgers Dugout: Breaking down the schedule for the rest of the season

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and Ryan Lochte just called me to say he saw Dave Roberts riding a unicorn Thursday.

The rest of the season?

The Dodgers are leading the NL West, half a game ahead of San Francisco. The season basically comes down to the Dodgers’ final 42 games, so what does their schedule look like? And what about the Giants’ schedule? Let’s take a look:

Dodgers’ remaining schedule:

HOME (19 games): Aug. 23-25 vs. San Francisco, Aug. 26-28 vs. Chicago Cubs, Sept. 2-4 vs. San Diego, Sept. 5-7 vs. Arizona, Sept. 19-21 vs. San Francisco, Sept. 22-25 vs. Colorado

ROAD (23 games): Aug. 19-22 at Cincinnati, Aug. 29-31 at Colorado, Sept. 9-11 at Miami, Sept. 12-14 at New York Yankees, Sept. 15-18 at Arizona, Sept. 27-29 at San Diego, Sept 30-Oct. 2 at San Francisco

The Dodgers have nine games left with the Giants (six at home, three on the road) and 29 games left against NL West opponents. Of the other 13 games, nine come against teams with winning records, including three games against the team with the best record in baseball, the Cubs. The four games against non-NL West teams with a losing record come tonight through Monday against Cincinnati.

San Francisco’s remaining schedule:

HOME (21 games): Aug. 19-21 vs. New York Mets, Aug. 26-28 vs. Atlanta, Aug. 30-31 vs. Arizona, Sept. 12-14 vs. San Diego, Sept. 15-18 vs. St. Louis, Sept. 27-29 vs. Colorado, Sept. 30-Oct. 2 vs. Dodgers

ROAD (20 games): Aug. 23-25 at Dodgers, Sept. 1-4 at Chicago Cubs, Sept. 5-7 at Colorado, Sept. 9-11 at Arizona, Sept. 19-21 at Dodgers, Sept. 22-25 at San Diego

The Giants, obviously, have nine games left with the Dodgers (six on the road and three at home) and 27 games left with NL West opponents. Of the other 14 games, eight come against teams with a winning record, including four against the Cubs. Of the six games against non-NL West teams with a losing record, three come tonight through Sunday against the Mets, who are just one game below .500. The other three come next weekend against Atlanta.

I rate the remaining schedules pretty even, with perhaps an ever-so-slight edge to the Dodgers. The Dodgers get to play the Cubs at home, while the Giants play them on the road. The Dodgers get six of their remaining nine games against the Giants at home.

I still say the season comes down to the final three games in San Francisco, which could also possibly be the final three games of Vin Scully’s career. Win there, make the playoffs, and extend Vin’s career into the postseason. No pressure at all.

The top 12

A lot of you have emailed asking for an update on the top 12 Dodgers this season ranked by WAR, so here you are. Remember, this is just for fun. If you get upset that you think the guy in fifth should be in third, or that this is not the best way to rank players, it’s OK. This is just one of many ways to look at things.

1. Clayton Kershaw, 5.1 WAR

2. Corey Seager, 4.5 WAR

3. Justin Turner, 4.1 WAR

4. Joc Pederson, 2.9 WAR

5. Kenta Maeda, 2.5 WAR

6. Yasmani Grandal, 2.1 WAR

7. Kenley Jansen, 2.0 WAR

8. Adrian Gonzalez, 2.8 WAR

9. Joe Blanton, 1.3 WAR

10. Adam Liberatore, 1.2 WAR

11. Howie Kendrick, 1.2 WAR

12. Chase Utley, 1.2 WAR

Trade update

How the players acquired at the trade deadline are doing:

Josh Reddick: .158 (9 for 57)

Rich Hill: Still on the disabled list

Jesse Chavez: 0-0, 4.50 ERA in seven games

Josh Fields: 1-0, 3.68 ERA in nine games

Ask Ross Porter

Former Dodgers announcer Ross Porter will be answering select reader questions for the rest of the season. Email me a question for Ross, and I will pass it on. His latest response:

Tom Vandenberg asks: The Dodgers have gained considerable ground on the Giants in recent weeks. Do you remember any other year, Ross, where the team picked up that many games on a first-place club so quickly?

Ross: This resurgence by the Dodgers reminds me, Tom, of the 1982 team. While this year’s Dodgers improved in the standings by 9 1/2 games in 42 starts, going from 8 down to 1 ½ ahead, what the ’82 Los Angeles squad did was mind-boggling.

On July 28 that season, the Dodgers trailed the Braves by 10 games. The Blue Crew then won 12 of the next 13 while Atlanta lost 12 of 14. The Dodgers gained 10 1/2 games in 13 outings and moved into first place. They stayed hot and wound up that torrid period having achieved a 12 1/2 game pickup in just 16 contests. The Braves suffered through an 11-game losing streak and were beaten in 19 of 21 games.

However, Atlanta got the last laugh.

The Dodgers enjoyed a 3 1/2 game edge on the Braves with 14 to play and were 3 up only 10 from the finish, but the boys in blue experienced an eight-game losing skein -- six of those at home and six by one run, including the last two in extra innings.

On the final weekend, Atlanta won the first two in San Diego, and the Dodgers recorded two victories in San Francisco to eliminate the Giants. The Braves took a one-game edge over the Dodgers into the final day. Atlanta was beaten 5-1 by the Padres so the Dodgers had to win to force a one-game playoff for the National League West title. They were tied 2-2 in the seventh inning when Joe Morgan hit a three-run homer to give San Francisco a 5-3 victory and end the Dodgers season.

Congratulations to Dave Roberts and this Dodger team for their stirring comeback -- without Clayton Kershaw.

What Vin Scully means to me

I asked you to tell me your best Vin Scully memory, and I got a lot of responses. I will publish selected ones in each newsletter. And keep emailing them to me.

Ruben Santillan: I was 9-10 years old and lived in the San Fernando Valley in the Pacoima area. The years were 1966 and 1967, and all we did after school in the April-June periods, was play baseball in the nearby streets, and hoped that no windows were broken as a result of playing with hard balls. Those were the real Golden years.

However, I developed a problem then. I played in the local streets and as dusk began to set, the games would cease, and fathers of the kids that I played with would turn on the radios in the front yards. All of a sudden, attention turned to that radio and that radio only. All of a sudden, I was hearing a rival Giants or whoever vs. the Dodgers, with guess who ... Vin Scully!!! Did not really know who he was back then, but do I know him now. All I remember to this day at age 58 was how that man brought you into that baseball moment and how local kids would listen to that man announce a game that took you into a different world. Talk about Walter Mitty and wanting to be a baseball great. As you can gather, I always lost track of time and always got grounded for not reporting back home at a regular time. To this day those vivid memories of listening to a radio with no TV will never die, and I truly mean that.

I am convinced to this day that even though I never played organized baseball at the Little League level, I managed to coach baseball for 18 years at various levels. Without a doubt, I must say that thanks to Mr. Scully and how he made my Dodger heroes seem so huge, that I embraced that passion for the game that he announced for so many years. Thanks again, Mr. Scully, you have impacted so many people with the God-given talent that you shared.

The TV situation

If you would like to complain about the Dodgers’ TV situation, you have three options: The Dodgers, Time Warner Cable and whatever local cable or satellite provider you have that doesn’t carry the Dodgers. Here’s who to contact:

For the Dodgers, click here or call (866) DODGERS, or (866) 363-4377. (I hope you like form letters).

For Time Warner, click here.

For DirecTV, call (800) 531-5000 or click here.

For your local cable or satellite provider, consult your bill for the customer service number and for the website.

And finally…

Vin Scully talks about Twitter and manages to get #AJEllis to trend nationwide. Watch and listen here.

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter: @latimeshouston