Dodgers banking on home field advantage as World Series returns to Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers fought all year to earn home field advantage throughout their postseason run and now they will need it, having to win two games at Dodger Stadium to win the 2017 World Series.

“We knew it was important for us to get home-field advantage,” manager Dave Roberts said Monday. “This is why we played 162 games like we did, for the opportunity to be at home and win two games. So it is a premium and for us it is definitely understated.”

The Dodgers won 104 games during the regular season, including an MLB-best 57 wins at Dodger Stadium. Their 165 home victories since the start of 2015 are the most in baseball, 11 more than any other team.

Counting the postseason the Dodgers are 62-25 at Dodger Stadium in 2017, matching the 1953 Brooklyn team (62-18) for most home wins in any year. The only other Dodgers team to reach 60 home wins in a season was 1899 (61-16).

“We obviously enjoy playing at home in front of our fans, and we've had a lot of success here this year. I know that everyone is excited for tomorrow, and excited for Game 6,” third baseman Justin Turner said. “We're going to be ready to go, and they're going to be full of energy tomorrow night.”

Needing to win both games at home presents a tall task for the Dodgers. In their franchise history, they have trailed a best-of-7 series 3-2 eight times. They forced a Game 7 twice, but lost all eight series.

Home teams this postseason are 26-10 (.722), including 5-1 for the Dodgers. The Astros were 8-1 in their games at Minute Maid Park.

“I think being able to have the last at-bat in this series is going to be important, as you saw in [Game 5] last night,” Turner said.

In the history of the World Series, 29 times there has been a team trailing a best-of-7 series with a 2-3-2 format heading home for the final two games. The trailing home team won Game 6 in 22 of those series (.759), and won the series 12 times (.414).