LOS ANGELES — The energy emanating from the steamroller heading up I-5 on Monday radiated for miles.
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Fuel was used to power the buses the San Diego Padres used to make the trip north for a three-game series that starts Tuesday night, but only because they didn’t try adrenaline.
Winners in 13 of their past 14 games, the Padres are poised to accomplish team history over the next few days. Never in their existence have they made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons.
San Diego has a magic number of two to clinch a National League wild-card spot, although the Padres intend to run through the finish line with a chance at ascending to the top of the wild-card heap in the NL.
“I feel like the whole team is in a good spot right now,” San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. told the San Diego Union-Tribune on Sunday. “We’re playing really good baseball. We’re checking in when we have to. The entire lineup is in a good spot right now. So when it’s going like that, it’s … a good time.”
The Dodgers already have another NL West title secured (their 13th in the past 14 years), but they also have a magic number of three to clinch a top-two seed in the NL playoffs and a bye into one of the best-of-five Division Series.
“I think it’s going to be a good kind of (playoff) primer,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the upcoming series. “They’re a very talented team. They’re playing as good as anyone in all of baseball. I’m looking forward to playing those guys and just kind of ramping it up a little bit more for our guys.”
With the Dodgers on a 14-3 run since Sept. 3, they are on a familiar final month charge toward the playoffs. Second-half lulls in each of the past two seasons have transformed into Septembers when the group has discovered the best version of itself.
Last season, the Dodgers were swept in a three-game series by the Angels in August then opened September with a three-game dud in Pittsburgh. A disastrous loss in Baltimore lit the fire after Yoshinobu Yamamoto lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning and the Dodgers never recorded another out while losing the game.
The wide-awake Dodgers went 15-5 the rest of the way, stormed through the NL playoffs – going 9-1 against the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers – then came out on top in a dramatic seven-game World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Earlier this month, it was a brutal 8-6 loss in 10 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 2 that was the wake-up call. It included a four-strikeout night from Shohei Ohtani, who played just one more game before taking his current spot on the injured list.
Properly motivated, the Dodgers have gone on a tear ever since, but it has come at the expense of teams that were not in playoff contention like the Washington Nationals, Reds, Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants.
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This week marks the Dodgers’ first chance to face a team playing at the peak of its powers since they faced the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves all in a recent 25-game stretch. They flubbed that test by going 1-12 in those games.
Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker and Will Smith all have put a charge into the resurgence, while the arrival of rookie Josue De Paula has given the lineup another hitter who can extend at-bats with a discerning eye, along with Max Muncy.
Betts went 0 for 4 in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over the Giants, yet he still is hitting .373 with six home runs, 20 RBIs and a 1.215 OPS in 17 games since the start of September.
Far from content with an offense that has averaged 5.8 runs per game this month, Betts said the Dodgers can do even more. After all, Andy Pages is set to return Tuesday, while Ohtani could be back later this week.
“Some guys are hitting, some guys are not,” Betts said. “I think that’s the beauty of the lineup. You get a couple guys going, and a couple guys here can carry a team, and you never know. You just never know who’s it going to be, it’s different guys every day.”
Amid a brutal first season with the Dodgers, Tucker has done his part lately by going 15 for 36 (.417) over his past 11 games with five home runs and 11 RBIs. He was limited to coming off the bench on Sunday after he fouled a ball off his right knee on Saturday.
Tucker was not with the club for last year’s September revival, but he has helped power this one. When it comes to team potential, Tucker is a big-picture guy.
“I think our potential is winning the World Series,” Tucker said. “So (when) we do that, then I can say we reached it. But we feel like we’re in a good spot right now. Our pitching staff’s done a great job all year giving us an opportunity to win every single night. Our defense has played pretty well behind them and then offensively we’ve done a solid job as well.”
“Right now, we got a few guys that are feeling good. A few guys that are banged up. But we’re still out there grinding trying to win as many games as possible before the season ends and just trying to carry it all the way to the playoffs.”
At the very least, confidence will be high this week, in both dugouts.
UP NEXT
Padres (RHP Michael King, 12-9, 3.03 ERA) at Dodgers (TBA), Tuesday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM
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