One key Dodgers stat could very well haunt them when playoffs arrive

Despite Wednesday's win, it'll still take the Dodgers a little while to get fully out from under Tuesday's loss to the Padres. The Dodgers had already started the day with some bad news for both Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone, and they had to entrust a rookie who's been promoted and demoted six times this year with the start against a surging Padres team just three games back of the division lead.

Landon Knack gave up four runs in four innings, which was all San Diego needed after a egregious bottom of the ninth, when Miguel Rojas hit into a triple play after the Dodgers told him to bunt, then changed their minds.

But that wasn't all that went wrong that night. The atmosphere at Dodger Stadium was very much that of a postseason game, and the Dodgers certainly looked like the postseason team they were last year. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman both went hitless, and LA's batters as a whole went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, which is a sneaky problem that's been plaguing the Dodgers all year.

If the postseason started tomorrow, the Dodgers would get the bye to the DS and the Padres and Diamondbacks would slug it out in the Wild Card. The Dodgers are batting .264 with runners in scoring position, which isn't terrible, but the Padres are batting .274 and the D-backs are batting .284. San Diego and Arizona both have better team averages overall — the first and second highest in the league, as it happens.

Dodgers' issues with runners in scoring position persist against Padres, threaten another postseason flameout

During last year's NLDS, the Dodgers could hardly get on base in order for runs to score in the first place. They batted .177 as a team to the Diamondbacks' .284, and were outscored by 13 runs in the three-game series. Betts walked once, but otherwise failed to get on base, and Freeman walked twice and got one hit. The Dodgers picked up just three extra-base hits and a single homer, courtesy of JD Martinez.

The Dodgers continued to hit decently against the Padres this week, which is a good enough sign, but 10 baserunners were still ultimately left stranded in the disappointing opener.

Padres fans have already started in on the "Dodgers have already started their postseason choke job" bit, and unless the Dodgers can snag the series finale forcefully, there's not a lot we can do to dispute that.