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Dodgers try to seal up NL West

Sep 25, 2008 - 10:02 AM San Diego (61-97) at LA Dodgers (83-75), 10:10pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- By the time the Los Angeles Dodgers take the field on Thursday, they may already be National League West champions. The champagne, however, will likely have to wait.

With their magic number down to one, the Dodgers host the San Diego Padres with a chance to seal their first division title since 2004. However, the team chasing them in the NL West - the Arizona Diamondbacks (79-79) - plays a matinee. If the Diamondbacks lose, as they have the last two days, the Dodgers would clinch.

The Dodgers have done their part. Winning three of their last four seems like a modest accomplishment - but the way they have won them is bound to have turned some heads. The Dodgers, who struggled offensively for most of the season before acquiring slugger Manny Ramirez at the trade deadline, have scored in double-digits in each of those three wins.

In Wednesday's meeting with the Padres, Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, James Loney and Matt Kemp drove in two runs apiece as the Dodgers rode a six-run eighth inning to prevail, 12-4. They opened up this series with a 10-1 blowout, and two days earlier against the San Francisco Giants, Ramirez homered twice and drove in five runs in a 10-7 victory.

And now opponents may have Rafael Furcal to worry about, too. The veteran shortstop, who was leading the majors with 49 hits before going down in early May with a back injury that necessitated surgery, was finally activated from the disabled list on Wednesday. While it is unclear what role he will play when playoff rosters are filled out, it's certainly another weapon at the team's disposal.

He pinch hit in the eighth inning on Wednesday for his first at-bat in 4 1/2 months and, after his line drive down the left-field line went just foul, struck out.

Should the Diamondbacks defeat the Cardinals, the Dodgers would have to clinch the division against one of their most formidable opponents, Padres righthander Jake Peavy (9-11, 2.77 ERA). In 21 career starts against the Dodgers, the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner is 12-1 - including 3-0 this year - with a 2.21 ERA, registering 131 strikeouts in 138 1/3 innings.

His opponent is his former teammate and mentor, Greg Maddux (7-13, 4.31), the man whom Peavy credits for turning him around following a disappointing 2006 campaign.

Since being acquired by the Dodgers on August 19, Maddux is 1-4 with a 5.71 ERA in six starts. He followed up his best outing as a Dodger - seven innings of two-hit, shutout ball against the Colorado Rockies - with his worst last Friday, as he gave up seven runs and nine hits over five innings in a 7-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants.