The Los Angeles Dodgers secured their 11th National League West title in the last 12 years with a 7-2 victory over their division rival, the San Diego Padres.

It is also the twelfth consecutive year that they have reached the playoffs, by far the longest streak among current teams and only the third in Major League Baseball history behind the 1991–2005 Atlanta Braves and the 1991–2005 New York Yankees 1995 to 2007.

As it stands, the Boys in Blue currently have a record of 95-64, giving them the most wins in MLB this season. However, it will be their first season since 2018 in which they do not exceed 100 wins (excluding the shortened 2020 season).

Already in playoff mode

For the Boys in Blue, who have already secured a spot in the playoffs, it came down to Thursday night. Compared to recent years, it was a much closer race than they were used to, with both the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks hot on their heels in the race for the division title.

A highly anticipated matchup between the Dodgers and Padres – just three games apart when the series began – provided exactly the playoff atmosphere expected with just a week until baseball’s official start in October.

In Tuesday night’s game, their lead dwindled as San Diego, following a three-RBI night from Jake Cronenworth and a dominant performance on the mound from Michael King, With an improbable triple play he secured the 4-2 victory. Wednesday’s game was also a nail-biter, but the Dodgers were able to pull it off came back from a deficit to beat the Padres 4-3 and are closing in on another NL West title.

Thursday was a little different as both teams went scoreless in four innings. However, in the fifth, the Padres struggled in the first over of the game and scored another sacrifice throw in the sixth.

After two putbacks, catcher Will Smith opened the floodgates in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run home run to center field. With momentum, the Dodgers wrested the lead away from the Padres, pounding in three more runs before returning to the dugout.

LA extended its lead and never relented in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run home run from outfielder Andy Pages.

How did they get here?

This season was just another in a dominant run over the better part of the last decade. In addition to their NL West titles, several players have earned major awards, a list that will inevitably include baseball honors first 50-50 club member ever The season is coming to an end in Shohei Ohtani.

It was all but confirmed that the Dodgers would grab the division lead early in the year, which they did, but they faced stiff competition from their division rivals over the course of the season, giving them the slim margin of victory on Thursday .

Somehow they strengthened what was already an incredible lineup at the time signed Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani to his 10-year, $700 million contract in the offseason. They also inked other Japanese stars Thrower Yoshinobu Yamamoto And was traded for proven star Tyler Glasnow from the Rays, adding to their deep starting rotation.

However, injuries played a significant role in the season, with every single starting player ending up on the injured list at some point, an issue that continues to plague the team as October approaches. Currently, they have key players like Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin and River Ryan still on the IL and have no expectations of playing in the playoffs.

However, everything seems to be par for the course for the Dodgers as they have continued to have success despite a number of injured players. They acquired a number of MLB-ready minor league players throughout the year and used them in every way to stake their claim as NL West champions. In a series of similar seasons they have consistently secured their spot in October, fielding a number of different players than they had at the start of the year.

They have made it to the World Series three times in recent years and won once against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020. Since then, however, their playoff run has been inexplicably disappointing, with two consecutive first-round exits in the National League Division Series, most recently against the Diamondbacks, who stunned them with a three-game series berth en route to their own world.

Despite some significant roster moves since their title, with key players like Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager and Justin Turner ending up on different teams, they have been able to continue their long winning streak with signings, trades and a deep minor league system that continues to produce star players every year.

What’s next?

The Boys in Blue have three games remaining to round out the season when they travel to Denver to take on the Colorado Rockies. After that, there will be a bye into the first round while they wait for their first opponent of the postseason, who will face off in the wild card round.

If the season ended today, they would face either the Padres or the New York Mets after a best-of-three series to see who advances to the NLDS.