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Dodgers Magic Number Update: NL West picture after LA clinches playoff spot

The work's not done yet.
Emma Lingan
Emma Lingan

Dodgers Way

San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers / Harry How/GettyImages

It's official: The Los Angeles Dodgers have secured a spot in October for the 13th consecutive season.

Fittingly, the reigning World Series champions punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 6-3 win over the San Francisco Giants Friday in Clayton Kershaw's final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers are now one step closer to defending their 2024 title – and potentially making history. No team has repeated as World Series champions in a quarter century, since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000.

But the work's not done yet. Even though the Dodgers have clinched a playoff berth, the National League West title isn't guaranteed yet. Their lead over the San Diego Padres is slim (four games), so they still need to maintain momentum as they close out the regular season.

Dodgers Magic Number Update: NL West picture after LA clinches playoff spot

Now that Los Angeles has secured a spot in the postseason – and San Diego suffered a loss to the Chicago White Sox on Friday – the Dodgers' magic number is down to three. That is, in order to clinch the division, they will either have to win three more games or the Padres will have to lose three more games.

If the Dodgers clinch the NL West, they will slot in as the No. 3 seed behind the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies. They would need Philly to really fall apart in order to capture a bye as the No. 2 seed (don't count on it).

However, if the Padres go on a heater while the Dodgers stumble to the end of the regular season, San Diego could steal the division while Los Angeles drops to the Wild Card bracket. If the Padres jump to a No. 3 seed, the Dodgers will play a best-of-three Wild Card Series against a lower-seeded team.

Los Angeles will finish the year against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners. The sooner they can rack up four wins, the sooner they will be able to rest easy as they head into October.

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Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan is an MLB Staff Writer for FanSided primarily covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. She has been covering baseball for more than a decade dating back to her time as a student at Wake Forest University, and she has won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. National Team delegation (2016 Pan-American Championships & 2017 World Baseball Classic). A native of Washington, D.C. and current resident of Nashville, Tenn., she is also entering her seventh season as a credentialed NHL media member and currently covers the NHL’s Nashville Predators for The Hockey News. When she's not watching hockey, baseball or football, she enjoys podcasting, reading, going to the gym, consuming large amounts of coffee and taking long walks with her dog, Minkah. You can follow her @Emma_lingan on Twitter and Instagram.