The Colorado Rockies still have a chance to get home field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Chances are slim, though. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Rockies each play 9 games before their 3-game series against each other to finish the season. The Rockies will have to gain at least 3 games on the Dodgers over the next 9 games to have a chance to overtake them for the division by sweeping them in the final 3 games. The good news for the Rockies is that those 9 games will be at home for the Rockies, and they’ll be on the road for the Dodgers.
The bad news is that the Dodgers play 7 of those 9 games against the two worst teams in the league, and the other two against San Diego, one of the worst of the rest. The Rockies, on the other hand, have a series next weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals. By then, however, the Cardinals will likely have clinched their playoff spot, so hopefully won’t play with quite their full fervor.
What would a six-game gain on the Dodgers look like? Perhaps the Rockies go 7-2 while the Dodgers go 4-5, then a sweep of the Dodgers; or, the Rockies go 8-1, the Dodgers 3-6, then the Rockies take 2 of 3 in LA.
Not likely, but possible. And if they do this, they will likely also surpass the other division leaders and end up with the best record in the whole league, thus having home field advantage through the playoffs.
The Baseballsphere Blog 