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Dodgers clinch the NL West the earliest since moving to Los Angeles

LA won its 9th division title in 10 years

Los Angeles Dodgers v Arizona Diamondbacks Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks on Tuesday night at Chase Field in Phoenix, securing their ninth National League West title in the last ten years. The win was the Dodgers’ 98th of the season through just 141 games, making this the earliest a Los Angeles Dodgers team has clinched a division or league crown.

By date, the 2019 team actually clinched three days sooner, with a win in Game 146, at Baltimore. But that was their 146th game of the season, which started on March 28. This year, the MLB season didn’t start until April 7, thanks to a 99-day lockout that took up the bulk of the offseason and truncated spring training.

Here’s a look at the Dodgers’ clinching dates for either a division title (1969-present) or National League pennant (1958-68), excluding a pair of shortened campaigns — 1981 (by strike) and 2020 (by pandemic).

Los Angeles Dodgers division/pennant clinching dates

Date Game No. Opponent Location Comment
Date Game No. Opponent Location Comment
Sep 29, 1959 156 Braves LA Coliseum LA won 2-game tiebreaker
Sep 24, 1963 158 Mets Dodger Stadium Drysdale 7 IP, 1 R, 7 K
Oct 2, 1965 161 Braves Dodger Stadium Koufax CG, 13 K on 2-days rest
Oct 2, 1966 162 Phillies Philadelphia Koufax CG, 10 K on 2-days rest
Oct 1, 1974 161 Astros Houston clinched with Reds loss to Braves
Sep 20, 1977 151 Giants San Francisco Rick Monday 2-run HR
Sep 23, 1978 155 Padres Dodger Stadium Lee Lacy go-ahead HR in 4-run 7th
Sep 30, 1983 160 Giants Dodger Stadium Braves loss earlier clinched before LA won
Oct 2, 1985 158 Braves Atlanta Reds lost to clinch division before LA won
Sep 26, 1988 157 Padres San Diego Mickey Hatcher 8th-inning single wins it
Sep 30, 1995 143* Padres San Diego *144-game season
Oct 2, 2004 161 Giants Dodger Stadium Steve Finley walk-off grand slam
Sep 25, 2008 159 Padres Dodger Stadium clinched with D-backs loss
Oct 3, 2009 161 Rockies Dodger Stadium Kershaw 10 K over 6 scoreless
Sep 19, 2013 153 D-backs Phoenix AJ Ellis game-winning HR
Sep 24, 2014 159 Giants Dodger Stadium Kershaw 8 IP, 1 R, 11 K
Sep 29, 2015 157 Giants San Francisco Kershaw 13-K masterpiece
Sep 25, 2016 156 Rockies Dodger Stadium Culberson walk-off HR in Vin Scully home finale
Sep 22, 2017 154 Giants Dodger Stadium Bellinger HR, Rich Hill 9 K
Oct 1, 2018 163 Rockies Dodger Stadium Buehler dominates tiebreaker
Sep 10, 2019 146 Orioles Baltimore Buehler 11 K in 7 scoreless
Sep 13, 2022 141 D-backs Phoenix Kershaw 7 scoreless IP; LA hit 3 HR

The earliest any Dodgers team has ever clinched was in 1955, when Brooklyn — on its way to winning the first World Series in franchise history — clinched the pennant on September 8. That was in Game 138 of a 154-game season. This year’s Dodgers play a longer schedule, but also have a larger lead, clinching with 21 games still remaining in a 162-game season.