Sep 28, 2022; San Diego, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner (6) and center fielder Cody Bellinger (35) celebrate on the field after defeating the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Dodgers News: LA Not Counting on Carryover of Regular-Season Dominance Over SD

Jeff Snider 10/11/2022

0 1 minute read

The Dodgers and Padres played 19 regular-season games this year, and 14 of those ended in victories for Los Angeles. That sounds and feels like dominance.

But as L.A. manager Dave Roberts told the media leading up to the start of the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and Padres, he and his team aren’t resting on their laurels after dominating San Diego in the regular season.

“The win-loss in the season I think certainly has been skewed, but I think that if you were a part and really follow each game, they could have went either way, a lot of them.

“So, it’s obviously a team that’s coming off a very big series, emotional series. A very talented team. We’re going to have our hands full. So there’s going to be no letdown on our part. The regular season has no bearing on the postseason.

“It’s the best-of-five. So history, in our opinion, doesn’t really matter. We feel good with where we’re at as far as having the five days to kind of reset, get some guys that had some injuries to kind of get back on track, so we feel good where we’re at.”

To be honest, the series wasn’t as close as Roberts is saying. Only six games were decided by two runs or fewer, and the Padres won four of those. The Dodgers outscored San Diego by 73 runs in their 14 wins and by 62 runs overall. In half of L.A.’s 14 wins, they scored eight runs or more.

Still, the approach Roberts and the Dodgers are taking is the best one. You can’t go into a series thinking, “We’re a lot better than this team, this series will be a piece of cake.” You have to believe the other team is just as good as you are, even if it’s not actually true.

So Roberts promises no letdown, and hopefully that’s what we’ll see over the next few days.

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