PHOENIX — Mookie Betts hit a three-run homer, Cody Bellinger added a two-run double and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-0 on Monday night behind Tyler Anderson, becoming the first major league team to clinch a playoff spot this season.
For real, this time. The Dodgers thought they had secured a playoff berth Sunday after beating the Padres, celebrating with a postgame toast and distributing caps with the postseason logo on them.
But MLB said Monday that it failed to account for a potential scenario in which the Padres (77-64) overtake the Dodgers for the NL West title and Los Angeles finishes in a three-way tie at 96-66 with the Milwaukee Brewers and St.
Louis Cardinals. Milwaukee would win the NL Central in that scenario while St. Louis would win the wild-card tiebreaker with Los Angeles based on head-to-head results this season.