SAN FRANCISCO _ The regular season won't end Sunday.
After a 15-0 demolition of the San Francisco Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers have forced Game 163 to decide the National League West. The Dodgers will host the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Monday to settle a seasonlong race that could not be settled after 162 games.
A day after celebrating a guaranteed spot in the playoffs, the Dodgers blitzed San Francisco with four multiple-run innings in the first five frames. The team scored 14 runs before they made 15 outs.
Given two touchdowns of support, Rich Hill spun seven scoreless innings of two-run baseball. The lead was safe. And so was the prospect of another game against the Rockies, who destroyed the Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon to keep the division race tied.
The Dodgers received a surprise late Saturday night, when they learned through Twitter that Washington would not start ace Max Scherzer in the finale at Coors Field. The team had boasted Scherzer would pitch if the game had playoff implications, only to shut him down instead. The Dodgers did not receive a courtesy call from Nationals officials, manager Dave Roberts said.
If Scherzer had started, the Dodgers may have used Walker Buehler. Instead they went with Hill. He left the ballpark on Saturday planning to pitch the next day. He got his wish.
Around 10 a.m. on Sunday, Hill fixed himself a plate of bacon and eggs. He brewed a cup of coffee and walked to his locker.
"Guess I'm pitching today," he cracked.
The room betrayed only a few signs of the previous day's revelry. The clubhouse staff at AT&T Park did yeoman's work cleaning up the mess. They lit scented candles in strategic locations around the room. A trio of Waxie floor fans concentrated on the carpet.
One of the fans whirred near couches in the center of the clubhouse, where a group of Dodgers hunkered down to watch football and trade barbs about their various fantasy teams. Clad in a hoodie, Cody Bellinger tracked down Dodgers clubhouse manager Alex Torres.
"What happens if we turn off the fan?" Bellinger said. "Is it going to stink? I'm so cold."
As Torres went to rectify the situation, Bellinger made a vow.
"If it stinks," he said, "we'll turn it back on."
The offense remained hot after finishing Saturday with four runs in the ninth. The team staked Hill a two-run lead in the first inning against Giants starter Andrew Suarez. After a leadoff walk by Chris Taylor, Justin Turner redirected a curveball into the right-field corner for an RBI double. David Freese followed with an RBI single.
Hill retired the first six batters he faced. His teammates rewarded him by busting the game open in the third inning. The seven-run storm sank Suarez and reliever Hunter Strickland. Suarez opened the door by plunking Turner. Freese banged a double off the right-field bricks. Manny Machado splashed a single in center to bring home Turner.
The Dodgers were in the midst of a seven-batter stretch without making an out. Enrique Hernandez hit an RBI single. Matt Kemp grounded a two-run double down the third-base line. Yasmani Grandal squeezed an infield single into dirt vacated by an infield shift. A wild pitch from Strickland allowed Kemp to score with Brian Dozier at the plate.
Dozier was in the midst of a hideous slump. He had not homered since Aug. 28. Before Sunday he was hitting .067 in September. He lost his place as the team's primary second baseman, though he still often starts against left-handed pitchers such as Suarez.
By the time Dozier came to the plate in the third, the right-handed Strickland was on the mound. Strickland challenged Dozier with fastballs and sliders. The ninth pitch of the at-bat was a 95-mph fastball. Dozier hammered it over the left-field fence to cap the flurry.
The fourth inning only furthered the onslaught. The Dodgers chewed up reliever Chris Stratton. Freese walked and Machado singled. Hernandez delivered his second RBI single of the day. Kemp sprayed an RBI double off the bricks. A sacrifice fly by Dozier completed the three-run rally.
Roberts started to sit his regulars in the fifth. The inning only displayed the depth of his bench. Batting in place of Turner, Max Muncy cranked his 34th home run of the season. He finished the year leading the team in homers and slugging.
