LOS ANGELES -- For the most part, what happens in individual games in the regular season doesn't have much bearing on potential postseason scenarios. But there are special cases, as exemplified in the NLCS rematch between the Dodgers and Mets.
With a 6-1 loss on Wednesday night, the Dodgers not only dropped the game, but also the season series to the Mets. They still have the opportunity to split the four-game set at Dodger Stadium with a win in Thursday's finale, but the season series could have implications in the postseason.
After the postseason field expanded to 12 teams in 2022, there were no longer tiebreaker games to resolve any ties in the standings. Instead, there are a series of mathematical outcomes that determine postseason seeding. Head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker.
That means that if the Dodgers and Mets end the season with the same record, the Mets will have home-field advantage in a potential postseason matchup between the two teams. New York has presented one of the biggest challenges to L.A. to date.
"I think their record speaks for itself," left fielder Michael Conforto said. "They have some great players over there. Their pitching staff is one of the best, if not the best in the league. They do a lot of things well. So obviously we'll see if we run into them again later on in the postseason, but they're definitely a good team over there."
The Dodgers have faced two other NL teams that would be in the postseason if the season ended as of Wednesday's action. They lost the season series to the Cubs and have ground to make up against the Phillies -- who they won't see until September -- after losing two of three at Citizens Bank Park in April.
L.A. is in the middle of a stretch of eight consecutive series against teams that are currently over .500. A team can learn a lot from a run like that against fellow prospective contenders, and the season series against the Mets has certainly given the Dodgers a lot of material to pore over.
For Pete's sake
One thing the Dodgers will have to figure out, should they meet the Mets again in October, is how to handle Pete Alonso. The slugger has driven in 10 runs against L.A. this season, including five on Wednesday night with a two-run homer off Tony Gonsolin in the first and a three-run shot off Ryan Loutos in the eighth.
Juan Soto has also been quietly productive against L.A., driving in six runs in the six games. Even though he's taken a while to heat up, the Dodgers know firsthand how dangerous he can be -- especially under the bright lights of the postseason.
Tough arms
The Mets have been able to limit the damage from Shohei Ohtani at the top of the order, and it hasn't stopped there. Maybe it should come as no surprise that the pitching staff with an MLB-best 2.83 ERA has been tough on the Dodgers, another common thread thus far.
"If you look back at the two series we’ve played against these guys, they’ve pitched us really well," manager Dave Roberts said. "The execution, sequencing, we’re kind of one step behind as far as anticipating what they’re going to do. And then when we do get opportunities with mistakes in the hitting zone, we’re not cashing in. I don’t know the answer, but I do know you have to give those guys credit for pitching us well."
But it goes both ways.
Tightly contested
Although the Dodgers have been outscored by the Mets 28-20, all but one of the games have been close. Wednesday is the only one that was decided by more than three runs -- and until Alonso's second homer in the eighth, it was a three-run game.
A different outcome in the season series was reasonably within the Dodgers' grasp. But they still have a chance to avoid the ill consequences of losing the tiebreaker to the Mets by outperforming them -- from afar -- the rest of the way.