The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West on Thursday, September 17, beating the Cincinnati Reds 8-2 at Great American Ball Park. It is the franchise's fifth consecutive division title and its 13th in 14 seasons.
Kyle Tucker decided most of it before the Reds had settled in. He finished 4 for 4 with three runs driven in, opening with a first-inning home run and adding two doubles — one hit, a triple, short of the cycle. His swings were behind four Los Angeles runs in the first two innings.
Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Josue De Paula and Miguel Rojas also drove in runs, Rojas with a home run in the ninth.
A division won without a starting pitcher
The clinching game was a bullpen game, and not by choice: injuries have left the Dodgers with only four starters on the active roster. Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages are both on the 15-day injured list.
Justin Wrobleski opened with three perfect innings. Blake Treinen gave up a solo home run in the fourth. Landon Knack then went four scoreless innings, and Seth Halvorsen allowed the Reds' second run in the ninth.
"We're just as hungry as we were in '24 and '25," manager Dave Roberts said, according to MLB.com. "This is a separate season."
What is still on the table
The title settles the division but not the bracket. With nine games left in the regular season, Los Angeles holds a four-game lead over the Atlanta Braves for the National League's No. 2 seed — the difference between opening the postseason at home with a first-round bye and playing through the Wild Card round.
That is the practical reading of a clinch this early: the Dodgers spend the last week and a half of the season resting an injured roster and chasing seeding rather than a playoff spot. They join the Milwaukee Brewers, the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees among the teams already through to the postseason, out of the 12 the format allows — three division winners and three Wild Cards in each league.
Reporting from MLB.com and NBC Los Angeles.
