MLB Standings if one-run games were flipped has Padres nipping at Dodgers' heels

The Los Angeles Dodgers have performed admirably this season, but they're also quite lucky that the San Diego Padres have no idea what they're doing in crunch time.

If SD's brigade of stars could get themselves together and execute in late-game, one-run situations, they might just be an NL West contender commensurate with preseason projections. Alas, they've failed time and again, and find themselves eliminated from the postseason picture. I guess that's what happens when your stars can't figure out why you keep surrendering when the going gets tough?

In the real world, the Padres have already been eliminated in the West, edging only the aimless Colorado Rockies in the standings. If you warp everyone's record in one-run affairs, though, giving their bullpen and crucial lineup cogs the gift of the Universal Clutch Gene, they'd be ... just six back of the Dodgers, gaining 16 full games in the standings.

Yes, these Padres really are an insane 5-22 in one-run games, in addition to an 0-11 mark in all extra innings affairs, which is approaching Hall of Shame territory. You can blame Rob Manfred's ghost runner for some of those struggles, but not all. When you're that bad, you just have to wear it.

Dodgers would be fighting back Padres with stick in MLB Standings if one-run games weren't a thing

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are ... perfectly competent. Even Stephen. You reverse their one-run affairs, and they come out in the same spot, 88-56 and atop the leaderboard.

Do the Dodgers have pressing concerns entering October? Of course they do! The rotation's a mess and full of rookies. The specter of last year's playoff failure -- against, yes, the Padres -- still lingers over this star-studded offense. They're supposed to be the best team in the National League/the gold standard, and they're going to have to act like it.

But, since they know how to handle themselves in the regular season, all their concerns are regarding playing up to standard in October. The Padres' issues involve trying to figure out how to escape Square 1 after they thought they'd flipped the rivalry around last fall. Good luck with that.