Rested Dodgers win important series against Arizona and extend lead in the NL West

It is probably safe to start production of the T-shirts.

Unless there is an epochal collapse in September, the Dodgers now seem to be well on their way to another title in the National League West.

In a game that effectively counted three points for the standings, the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-6 on Monday afternoon at Chase Field. The win not only gave the team a six-game lead over Arizona in the NL West race, but also clinched the season series (and potential season-ending tiebreaker) against the club in the 13th and final game of the season (the Dodgers finished 7-6 against the Diamondbacks this year).

“It's a tough feat for us to win three games here,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It took some tough hits and some strong shots. Overall, we managed to come out of here six games ahead of these guys.”

No one has ever rolled out champagne bottles.

With four weeks to go and with key injuries remaining on the mound, a lot can still go wrong for the currently undermanned Dodgers team.

But with only 24 games left in the schedule – and some relatively easy ones at that, with series against the Angels, Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies (twice) still to come – the Dodgers (83-55) are putting all the pressure on the Diamondbacks (77-61) and San Diego Padres (79-61), who were five games behind on Monday night.

Even if the Dodgers only manage a .500 record the rest of the way, the Diamondbacks and Padres (who come to LA for three games in the last week of September) would have to win about 75% of their remaining games, if not more, to catch them.

By winning three of four games at Chase Field this week, the Dodgers essentially have a shot at their 11th division title in the last 12 years.

“If you’re looking at the division leaders this early in September, you’re doing the wrong thing,” warned first baseman Freddie Freeman.

Nevertheless, Monday's starting pitcher Jack Flaherty replied, “there are no secrets” about the standings.

“Every game gets a little bit more important,” Flaherty added. “So today just a big, big win to win the series and just keep moving things forward.”

After two shootout wins on Friday and Saturday and a clear loss on Sunday, the heaviest defeat of the season, the club was able to record an easier win on Monday.

Flaherty, their top signing at the trade deadline, got off to a solid start with 5⅔ innings and one run with seven strikeouts, perfecting the Diamondbacks' lineup that typically relies on fastballs.

“You just have to compete,” Flaherty said of pitching in a series with a lot on the line. “When you get into moments like this and situations like this, games like this on the road with a team trying to catch you, it's a lot of fun.”

Flaherty had plenty of help, both from a defense that made several key plays – including an early double play from Chris Taylor from distance – and from a lineup that once again exploded at the plate, finishing this four-game set with 32 runs.

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman opened the scoring in the third inning when Betts hit an RBI single and Freeman followed with a two-run blast.

Then the Dodgers made their breakthrough with three runs in the seventh and five more in the eighth inning.

In the seventh inning, Shohei Ohtani scored on a sacrifice fly after stealing second and third base on two consecutive throws (he had three steals overall, raising his season total to 46), while Will Smith hit a two-out, two-run single on the other side (he had five hits and five RBIs in what turned out to be a comeback series).

In the eighth inning, Betts and Freeman again provided momentum. Betts had a two-run double with two outs. In the next at-bat, Freeman hit another two-run homer to finish the streak with four home runs after missing the club's previous three games due to a fractured right middle finger.

Teoscar Hernández also had five hits and missed the cycle by just one long ball. Chris Taylor hit two of four at the bottom of the lineup.

“[That was] “It's a lot of the same guys that we didn't have success with last October and even in some parts of this year,” Roberts said, taking comfort in the Dodgers' hitting ability against the club that swept them in the NL Division Series last October.

“So, coming here in their backyard and swinging the bats like we did, hitting the starter, stressing the bullpen – I thought we had a great plan of attack throughout. The big players, the big stars played well.”

A loss on Monday would have put the Dodgers in a completely different position for the final stretch of the season.

The tiebreaker would have effectively put Arizona 3.5 games behind in the standings. And even with a relatively easy schedule on the horizon, the Dodgers would have been under pressure with an uncertain starting lineup.

Of the team's three notable pitchers on the injured list – Yoshinobu Yamamoto (shoulder), Tyler Glasnow (elbow) and Clayton Kershaw (toe) – Yamamoto is closest to returning, as he is scheduled for another three-inning rehab outing with Triple-A Oklahoma City this week.

The Japanese rookie right-hander could be ready to return to the Dodgers' rotation afterward, although Roberts said that will depend on whether he has thrown enough pitches to not put the bullpen in a difficult position again once he is activated.

Glasnow and Kershaw remain major question marks.

Glasnow extended his catch to 120 feet on Sunday, getting closer to throwing off a mound, but Roberts has been cautious about setting a definitive timetable for his return.

“Once he comes down from a hill,” Roberts said, “it will be a little more tangible.”

Kershaw is in a similar situation: The swelling caused by a bone spur on his left big toe must first subside before the Dodgers can get a more accurate picture of his condition.

“The inflammation is still there,” Roberts said. “I think he'll have to start wearing a walking boot soon.”

When asked if this year's rotation is better than that of the Dodgers' undermanned team last October, when they were swept by the Diamondbacks in three games, Roberts expressed some doubt.

“Honestly, the current state of our roster? Probably not,” he said. “But we'll get there. I don't know what it's going to look like in October, but we've got a lot of baseball to play between now and then.”

However, after Monday's result, the pressure on the club should have eased somewhat, as the Dodgers emerge from this week's desert tour with a convincing lead in the division and now enter the final phase of the season.

“I think it's a question of character,” Roberts said of his club's recent 17-6 streak, which left the once-powerful Diamondbacks and Padres trailing in the standings.

“I know character is hard to measure, but I believe in it – there are things that are out of our control that we've done and overcome. We still have a lot of baseball ahead of us. I said a few weeks ago – I'm in playoff mode and I know our guys are too. It's just going to be a long playoff season for us. But that's a good thing.”