Dodgers' Magic Number Shrinks After Sweep Over Rockies, Padres Series Loss

A dominant 9-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies gave the Dodgers an impressive three-game sweep. Even more significant for the Boys in Blue, the San Diego Padres continue to scuffle at a high clip.

San Diego lost two of three at home to the Cincinnati Reds. The Dodgers currently hold a three-game advantage over the Friars for first place.

In terms of wrapping up the division — given that the Dodgers own the tiebreaker over the Padres — the Magic Number sits at 14. This formula stipulates that any combination of Dodgers wins and Padres losses moving forward that equals 14 results in another division crown for Los Angeles.

Winners of four-in-a-row, the Dodgers are starting to hit their stride as the team gets healthy. Tommy Edman was latest addition to the roster prior to Wednesday's win. Hitting fifth in the order, Edman went 1-for-4 with a run scored playing centerfield.

Blake Snell proved why the Dodgers inked him to a lucrative five-year deal in the offseason. He threw six scoreless innings — allowing two hits and striking out 11. Snell's elite outing continues a very good run of form for the suddenly healthy LA starting rotation. Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Emmet Sheehan, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto have all been spectacular over the last few weeks.

One of the biggest developments recently has been the emergence of Mookie Betts. The star shortop had four hits and five runs batted in on Wednesday which included a grand llam to fully break the game open in the eighth inning. Betts has suddenly risen his batting average all the way up to .260 after this recent torrid pace.

Andy Pages had three hits and has steadily started to regain the form he demonstrated earlier in the year. The same can he said for Teoscar Hernandez. His eighth inning home run marked the second night in a row in which he's hit a long ball (three homers in the last two contests). Getting him right for the postseason would be a major boost to the lineup.

With Max Muncy and a host of relievers returned, not to mention the possible addition of Roki Sasaki, this team is starting to resemble the group Andrew Friedman envisioned when putting it together in the offseason.

The team is set to travel to the Bay Area for a massive three-game series against the San Francisco Giants over the weekend. A seven-game homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Giants yet again will occur next week.

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