Remaining schedules for the Dodgers and Giants

The Dodgers lead the Giants by 2½ games with a little under six weeks remaining in the season, a three-game lead in the loss column. The Dodgers have 38 games remaining over the regular season's final 40 days, and the Giants have 37 games left.

The two teams play each other in two more series — next Monday through Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, and a four-game set from Sept. 28 through Oct. 1 in San Francisco, the latter the start of the final week of the season.

It is very likely those seven games will go a long way in determining the winner of the National League West, though the Dodgers thus far have been able to overcome their 3-9 mark against San Francisco to sit atop the division. But aside from that, here are the remaining schedules for the two teams, grouped together by common opponents.

NL Central juggernauts

The Dodgers host the Cubs this weekend, then welcome the Pirates to Los Angeles for three games.

The Giants have two more games at home against the Cubs, Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon, then bring the Cardinals to town for three games this weekend.

NL West

Both teams have two series remaining with the Padres, with the Dodgers having an extra game with a four-game series in San Diego from Sept. 3-6.

It is the same situation with the Diamondbacks, with two series each and the Dodgers having an extra game, the four-game series in Los Angeles from Sept. 21-24.

The Giants have an extra game against the Rockies, with four games at Coors Field from Sept. 3-6. Both teams have two series each against Colorado.

The AL West rival

The Dodgers have three games in Anaheim against the Angels (64-61) from Sept. 7-9, while the Giants head to Oakland to face the Athletics (55-72) from Sept. 25-27.

Lowly Cincinnati

The Dodgers have two more games, Wednesday night and Thursday morning, against the Reds on the road. The Giants get to host the Reds in San Francisco from Sept. 14-16.

The rotation

The Dodgers have already shuffled their starting rotation to maximize the starts by Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw down the stretch, with the two set to start the final two games against the Giants next week.

If the Dodgers utilize their final two off days (Sept. 10 and Sept. 17) to give their rotation extra rest, both Greinke and Kershaw would still be in line to start against both the Pirates (Sept. 18-20 in Los Angeles) and Giants (Sept. 28-Oct. 1 in San Francisco), and both could still make eight more starts in the regular season.

Summary

The interleague matchups help tilt the strength of schedule in the Giants' favor, with a .489 remaining average winning percentage for the Giants' opponents, compared to .503 for the Dodgers. The Dodgers have 16 of their 37 games against teams currently .500 or better, while the Giants have 12 such games.

The Diamondbacks (62-63) and Padres (61-64) appear poised to threaten such an analysis.

The Reds seem to make the difference here in location. The Dodgers have 19 home games left and 19 road games left, while the Giants have 21 games remaining at home and 16 on the road.

For what it's worth, Baseball Prospectus gives the Dodgers an 81.8-percent chance to win the division, with the Giants at 16.9 percent. FanGraphs gives the Dodgers an 88.5-percent chance to win the NL West for a third straight season, which would be a franchise first, while the Giants have a 10.8-percent chance.