There will be playoff baseball at Dodger Stadium this fall _ officially.
With a 15-6 rout of the Colorado Rockies on Friday in Denver, the Los Angeles Dodgers (37-15) clinched home-field advantage in the best-of-three wild-card round, the only stage of the postseason that won't be held at a neutral bubble site.
The team's fourth straight win also lowered its magic number to win the NL West and clinch the National League's top seed to four, as its offense set a season high for runs against an overmatched Rockies team that, at 22-28, is quickly fading from postseason contention.
On a bullpen day for its pitching staff, the Dodgers' lineup scored in bunches.
Cody Bellinger and Gavin Lux each clobbered two-run homers in a four-run second, with Lux's 453-foot blast the longest by a Dodger hitter this season. In a five-run fifth, Chris Taylor drove in two runs on a bases-loaded single before Max Muncy, Bellinger (who finished a triple short of the cycle) and AJ Pollock plated three more with three consecutive RBI base hits.
Mookie Betts took the National League lead in home runs during a two-run sixth, belting his 16th of the season over the wall in left. In the seventh, Betts tripled home two more as part of a four-run frame.
It was the Dodgers' offense at its best: consistent (all nine starters recorded a hit and eight had an RBI) and clutch (eight for 14 with runners in scoring position); patient (four walks and one hit by pitch to only three strikeouts) yet powerful (seven extra-base hits).
A pair of three-run innings from the Rockies mattered little. Josh Fuentes hit a three-run homer off starter Alex Wood in the second to briefly make it a one-run game. But by the time the Rockies scored again, hanging three runs on Dylan Floro in the bottom of the sixth, the Dodgers' lead was already out of reach.
Their advantage in the NL West is starting to look the same. With only nine days remaining in the regular season, the Dodgers have increased their edge over the second-place Padres to 4{ games. Since losing a series-opener in San Diego on Monday, their four straight wins have all come against division opponents and by a combined score of 34-15.
