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The Dodgers already made a long climb out of a self-created hole, falling 10 games below .500 before rebounding to 10 games over .500 and first place in the National League West at the All-Star break. Now, the real work begins.
Starting things after the four days off is a daunting 10-game road trip that will feature series against the Brewers, Phillies and Braves, three teams that at the moment own better records than the Dodgers.
National League standings
| Team | W-L (Pct) | Run diff. |
|---|---|---|
| Team | W-L (Pct) | Run diff. |
| Cubs | 55-38 (.591) | +114 |
| Brewers | 55-43 (.561) | +49 |
| Phillies | 53-42 (.558) | +18 |
| Braves | 52-42 (.553) | +68 |
| Dodgers | 53-43 (.552) | +82 |
| Diamondbacks | 53-44 (.546) | +43 |
| Rockies | 51-45 (.531) | -1 |
| Cardinals | 48-46 (.511) | +11 |
| Giants | 50-48 (.510) | -26 |
| Nationals | 48-48 (.500) | +30 |
The Dodgers are still in good shape relative to these other National League playoff contenders. At +82, the Dodgers’ run differential is the second-best in the league, behind only the Cubs (+114), and Los Angeles added about as good a midseason reinforcement you will find in Manny Machado.
Projected standings at both Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs have the Dodgers finishing with a better record than anyone in the NL except Chicago, and the folks at Bovada have the Dodgers pegged as 3/1 favorites to win the pennant, up from 4/1 odds on July 2 and way up from 9/1 odds on June 1. Their 9/2 odds to win the World Series matches the Red Sox and trails only the Yankees (4/1) in MLB.
This road trek through Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Atlanta is the second of three scheduled 10-game trips for the Dodgers this season, with another journey to Colorado, Cincinnati and St. Louis set for Sept. 7-16.
On the first extended road trip this season, an earlier rainout meant the Dodgers needed a doubleheader in San Francisco. That Apr. 27-May 6 trip saw the Dodgers play 11 games in 10 days in three cities and two countries, including a trip to Mexico to face the Padres. They only went 4-7 on that trip, which was par for the course with how the Dodgers were playing back then, during their 16-26 start.
It was notable because as challenging as long road trips are, the Dodgers have generally done quite well in their extended trips. That 4-7 trip was the club’s first losing road trip of 10 or more games since Sept. 6-16, 2010. The Dodgers had 13 long road trips in between and never finished worse than 5-5, going 77-53 (.592) in those games. That’s better than the club’s .566 overall winning percentage in those seasons (2011-17).
Dodgers’ 10-game road trips (2011-2018)
| Dates | Opponents | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | Opponents | Record |
| June 3-12, 2011 | Reds, Phillies, Rockies | 5-5 |
| August 15-24, 2011 | Brewers, Rockies, Cardinals | 5-5 |
| September 1-11, 2011 | Pirates, Braves, Nationals, Giants | 7-3 |
| June 1-10, 2012 | Rockies, Phillies, Mariners | 7-3 |
| July 20-29, 2012 | Mets, Cardinals, Giants | 7-3 |
| August 10-19, 2012 | Marlins, Pirates, Braves | 7-3 |
| September 16-26, 2013 | Diamondbacks, Padres, Giants | 5-5 |
| September 12-21, 2014 | Giants, Rockies, Cubs | 6-4 |
| June 22-July 1, 2015 | Cubs, Marlins, Diamondbacks | 6-4 |
| July 17-26, 2015 | Nationals, Braves, Mets | 5-5 |
| September 3-13, 2015 | Padres, Angels, Diamondbacks | 7-3 |
| September 9-18, 2016 | Marlins, Yankees, Diamondbacks | 5-5 |
| September 11-21, 2017 | Giants, Nationals, Phillies | 5-5 |
| April 27-May 6, 2018 | Giants, Padres*, Diamondbacks | 4-7 |