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Rested Dodgers win big series against Arizona, extend NL West lead
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Rested Dodgers win big series against Arizona, extend NL West lead

It’s probably safe to put the T-shirts into production.

Barring a dramatic loss in September, the Dodgers now appear to be on their way to another National League West title.

In a game that effectively counted for three points in the standings, the Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-6 at Chase Field on Monday afternoon. The victory not only moved the Dodgers six games ahead of Arizona in the NL West race, but also settled their season series (and potential late-season tiebreaker) against the club.

No one had yet brought out the bottles of champagne.

With four weeks left, a lot can still go wrong for the Dodgers team that still has too few players on the mound.

But with just 24 games left on their schedule — and a relatively easy one at that, with series against the Angels, Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies (twice) remaining — the Dodgers (83-55) have put all the pressure on the Diamondbacks (77-61) and the San Diego Padres, who trailed by 5½ games in the standings heading into their series opener against the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.

Even if the Dodgers were to hit just .500 the rest of the season, the Diamondbacks and Padres (who come to LA for three games in the last week of September) would have to win about 75% of their remaining games, or more, to catch them.

By winning three of four games at Chase Field, the Dodgers effectively secured what would be their 11th division title in the last 12 years.

“It’s big,” manager Dave Roberts said of building a six-game division lead over Arizona (one that’s actually 6½ with the tiebreaker). “The goal is to get it to six games.”

After winning back-and-forth shootouts on Friday and Saturday and suffering a heavy defeat on Sunday, the worst loss of the season, the Dodgers recorded an easier victory on Monday.

Jack Flaherty, the best player to make the trade deadline, threw a solid 5⅔ innings, leading by one run.

Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty scores in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty scores in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

(Rick Scuteri/Associated Press)

The first strike came in the third inning with an RBI single by Mookie Betts and a two-run home run by Freddie Freeman.

The Dodgers then provided additional assurance in a three-run seventh inning and a five-run eighth inning.

In the seventh inning, Shohei Ohtani scored on a sacrifice fly after stealing second and third on two straight pitches (he had three steals on the day, bringing his season total to 46), while Will Smith singled with two outs and two runs the other way (he had five hits and five RBIs in what would be a rebounding series).

In the eighth inning, Betts and Freeman combined again. Betts had a two-run, two-out double. In the next at bat, Freeman hit another two-run homer (ending the series with four long balls after missing the club’s previous three games with a broken right middle finger).

Teoscar Hernández also had five hits, finishing just shy of the cycle. Chris Taylor went 2-of-4 at the bottom of the lineup.

A loss on Sunday would have put the Dodgers in a very different position for the final stretch of the season.

The tiebreaker would have effectively left Arizona 3½ games behind in the standings. And even with a relatively easy schedule ahead, the Dodgers would be under pressure with an uncertain starting rotation.

Of the team’s three big names on the injured list — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (shoulder), Tyler Glasnow (elbow) and Clayton Kershaw (toe) — Yamamoto is the closest to a return. He’s scheduled to make another three-inning rehab start this week for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

The Japanese right-handed rookie could be ready to return to the Dodgers’ rotation, though Roberts said it depends on whether his pitch count has built up enough to not put the Dodgers’ bullpen in a tough spot again once he’s activated.

Glasnow and Kershaw remain bigger question marks.

Glasnow extended his catch play to 120 feet on Sunday, bringing him closer to throwing from a mound. For now, though, Roberts has been careful not to give a definitive timeline for his return.

“Once he comes off a hill,” Roberts said, “it’ll be a little more tangible.”

Kershaw is in the same boat: swelling from a bony spur on his left big toe must resolve before the Dodgers can get a better idea of ​​his status.

“There’s still some inflammation,” Roberts said. “I think he’ll be in a running boot pretty soon.”

Asked whether this year’s rotation is better than the Dodgers’ limited roster until last October, when they were swept in three games by the Diamondbacks, Roberts expressed doubt.

“Honestly, the current state of our roster? Probably not,” he said. “We’re doing it. I don’t know what it’s going to look like once we get to October, but we’ve got a lot of baseball to go.”

The good news: The pressure on the club should ease somewhat now, as the Dodgers enter the final stretch of the season with a commanding division lead after their trip to the desert this week.