Dodgers Set to Seal Division Title in High-Stakes Bullpen Showdown Against Diamondbacks

The Dodgers are going to return to the postseason once again, but the only real remaining question is if they will do it as the division winner or as a Wild Card team. The biggest difference for them is that they would host a series if they win the division, and if they do not, they will be on the road for their first series. The Brewers and the Phillies will get the first-round byes. There is something about this Dodgers team that doesn’t feel quite as scary as previous years. They still have a great rotation with multiple guys that you can confidently back to give strong outings. They still have a solid lineup, and they are defending champions, but they just don’t feel quite as scary as they have in the past. Tonight, they send out Yoshinobu Yamamoto to hopefully give them the win needed to get the division victory. Yamamoto has been good with an 11-8 record, 2.58 ERA, and 0.99 WHIP. He did have a few rough starts, but he has been on a tear recently, allowing one earned run or fewer in the past four starts, and posting a quality outing in five of his past six starts. He has faced the Diamondbacks three times this season, and two of the starts were at home, where he went 14 total innings and allowed just five hits and one earned run. In his one road start against Arizona, he allowed five earned runs over five innings.