Dodgers clinch playoff berth

The Dodgers clinched a playoff berth with their victory last night. We now have a magic number of 2 to win the National League West. (That is, any combination of Dodger wins and Rockies losses summing to 2 or more will result in our winning the NL West.)

Go Dodgers!

(Hopefully, however, we can get farther in the postseason this year...)

Update (9/27/09, 1st inning): According to the broadcasters on today's Dodger telecast (who are idiots rather than Vin Scully), our magic number is 1. However, by my counting that would only clinch a tie. So perhaps that means we have won that tie-breaker? Unfortunately, the announcers didn't bother giving any explanation whatsoever. Maybe they will later. (Of course, this won't actually come into play.)

Update (9/27/09, 4th inning): The announcers finally bothered to explain that the fact that the magic number is 1 is indeed a tie-breaker situation. That rule is so lame (even when it favors my team). Also, the Dodgers had 2 runners nailed on the bases this inning---Bloody Hell!

Update (9/27/09, top of the 9th inning): Maybe the announcers mentioned this earlier, but I didn't notice it. The reason we won the tie-breaker is that we won the season series against the Rockies. I guess that's a reasonable choice of tie-breaking mechanism, but I'd still prefer not to have one. By the way, unless something goes horribly wrong in the bottom of the 9th, we're about to win! (I'll write a separate post on that.)

Update (9/27/09, after the game): Then again, things might go horribly wrong in the bottom of the 9th... Damn.