(Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

by Rowan Kavner

For the sixth straight year, the Dodgers are going to the playoffs.

With two strikes and two outs in the eighth inning, Manny Machado’s go-ahead RBI triple — his biggest hit to date with his new club — put the Dodgers up for good Saturday afternoon at AT&T Park, helping guarantee a spot in the postseason.

Whether the Dodgers are a Wild Card team or division champions for the sixth straight season remains to be seen.

Following Machado’s triple and a four-run Dodger ninth inning, the 10–6 win against the Giants was not followed by a raucous sprint to the mound or any gallivanting around AT&T Park.

The Dodgers’ 18-hit performance, capped by a two-out ninth-inning rally that saw seven straight batters reach base, led to a tale of two celebrations for a club in an unfamiliar position knowing a spot in the postseason awaits but uncertain what that spot will be as Game 162 approaches Sunday afternoon.

Kenley Jansen recorded the final out, pointed his finger toward the sky and walked slowly toward catcher Yasmani Grandal. Dodger infielders strolled serenely toward one another for some subdued hugs and high-fives. The Dodger outfielders did the same. Coaches and players didn’t storm off the bench, instead sauntering onto the field the way they might after a normal late-inning victory.

“I don’t know, it was kind of awkward,” admitted manager Dave Roberts.

At the time of the Dodger win, the Rockies had not yet started their Saturday matchup against the Nationals. If Colorado loses that game, the Dodgers and Rockies will enter Sunday with the same record atop the division. Nothing is settled in terms of when and where the Dodgers will be playing in October.

After the game, back in the clubhouse, Roberts acknowledged to his team more work and more baseball is ahead. The NL West remains still up for grabs.

But he also understood the need to celebrate a postseason berth that is never guaranteed.

And so they did.

“We know what happened with the win,” Roberts said. “Our goal was to win the division. Even in there, I encouraged our guys to enjoy it, with respect to having an important game tomorrow. But you have to celebrate victories.”

Roberts said he felt more excitement than relief in clinching a playoff spot. An up and down road led to a result he said he’d always envisioned, even after stumbling to a 16–26 start to the 2018 season.

“You look at how guys have come together and stayed together in some tough times and found our way on the other side, I think there’s power in that,” Roberts said.

It’s special for rookies like Walker Buehler and Caleb Ferguson, who are key contributors on a playoff team for their first time. It’s special for veterans like Matt Kemp, whose long-awaited and long-desired return to the postseason is finally here.

Roberts thought about all the different sets of players in the clubhouse, particularly the ones who’ve sacrificed at-bats and plate appearances to get to this point.

“When we can kind of see it through and get to the postseason, there’s some satisfaction in that, that their buy-in is kind of seeing some fruits,” Roberts said.

The excitement that may have lacked on the field after the win picked up considerably in the clubhouse. Bottles popped and the celebration began.

As Machado spoke to the media, champagne sprayed around him. Kemp tossed water on Machado’s face over and over again.

“Hydrate!” Kemp yelled. “Hydrate!”

It took perseverance to finally clinch, both over the course of the season and on Saturday specifically.

The Dodgers led after the first batter of the game. Joc Pederson’s 25th home run of the year was also his eighth leadoff home run of the season, setting a franchise record. They’d add to that lead in the second inning with another leadoff homer, this one by Yasiel Puig on his eighth homer of the month and 23rd of the year.

In a season full of it, adversity would strike quickly.

A strenuous second inning for Clayton Kershaw put the Giants on the board. An inning later, Joe Panik, who entered the day with one career RBI off Kershaw, came through with a go-ahead two-run single.

In a back and forth season, a back and forth day began.

The Dodgers led after the second, trailed after the third, took back the lead in the fourth and surrendered the lead in the fifth. Kershaw left with the game tied after allowing five earned runs in five innings, snapping a streak of 20 straight starts allowing three earned runs or fewer.

With the Dodgers 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position entering the eighth inning, it was Machado who’d change the narrative, lifting a 92 mph fastball 103 mph off the bat toward right field to bring home Chris Taylor for what would end up the game-winning run.

More runs would follow.

The Dodgers poured it on with a two-out ninth inning rally started by Kiké Hernández, who has three hits in each of the first two games of the Dodgers’ season-ending series in San Francisco.

Seven straight Dodger batters would reach in a four-run ninth for the Dodgers, who finished the day 6-for-16 with runners in scoring position in a win that eliminated the Cardinals from postseason contention.

“This is just the beginning of it,” Machado said. “I think we’re finally getting accustomed to everyone on this ballclub. Everyone’s accepting their roles as a team. Whenever you can do that as a ballclub, the sky’s the limit, like I always say.”

The Dodgers enjoyed the moment, then turned their attention to what remains ahead.

Twenty or 30 minutes after the locker room celebration began, the champagne-soaked clear coverings surrounding each player’s locker already began coming off in preparation for another game in a day with more implications.

Minutes after the celebration and revelry ended, the shouts of excitement came not from the locker room but from the back of the clubhouse. Dodger players had already retreated to the back to watch the Rockies, as the Nationals struck first.

Depending on what happens Saturday night, both Walker Buehler and Rich Hill are prepared to start Sunday.

And whatever happens in the next two days, nothing has changed Roberts’ opinion about his club.

“I think we’re the best team, and I’ve said it,” Roberts said. “But most importantly, we’ve got to go out there and play like it.”