The Los Angeles Dodgers will have to put the champagne back on ice for at least one more day.
Major League Baseball announced an internal error in determining the Dodgers’ postseason clinching scenarios, meaning Los Angeles still has a magic number of one to secure a playoff spot as of Monday morning.
The Dodgers (96-43), who enter Monday with a commanding 20-game lead atop the National League West, thought they had clinched their 10th consecutive postseason berth Sunday with their 11-2 victory over the San Diego Padres. Manager Dave Roberts led a postgame toast with sparkling wine, and the players and staff were given caps with the postseason logo.
MLB said Monday, however, that it failed to account for a potential scenario in which the Padres (77-64) overtake the Dodgers for the NL West title and Los Angeles finishes in a three-way tie at 96-66 with the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals. Milwaukee would win the NL Central in that scenario while St. Louis would win the wild-card tiebreaker with Los Angeles based on head-to-head results this season.
The Dodgers can officially clinch a postseason spot with a victory Monday over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Los Angeles also could secure the division title as early as Tuesday.
When MLB issued its clinching scenarios ahead of the Sunday games, it was using the Dodgers’ 4-3 record against the Brewers as a head-to-head tiebreaker and was not factoring the possibility of a three-team tie.
The Dodgers would need to lose their final 23 games while the Brewers (75-66) would need to win their last 21 games in order for both clubs to finish 96-66.