By Jon Weisman

A postscript to Thursday’s postgame post on the Dodgers starting pitching …

In both the 2013 National League Division Series and the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers only needed to win the games started by Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke to advance to the next round. It happened in the NLDS; it didn’t in the NLCS.

It’s nearly an identical story for this year’s final 10 games to clinch the NL West title.

Kershaw and Greinke each have two remaining scheduled starts, including one apiece against the Giants. If the Dodgers win those games, that alone would trim the magic number for clinching the division all the way from nine to three.

That means that in the Dodgers’ other six games, they would only need to go 3–3 to win the NL West, even if the Giants went 8–0 in the games they don’t face Kershaw and Greinke.

Consequently, every time the Giants lost, the pressure on the Dodgers would lessen. And as rough as the Dodgers’ №3–5 starters had it in Colorado this week, it’s a bit extreme to expect the Dodgers will get zero wins in their remaining six games.

Now obviously, if Greinke and Kershaw falter, or if the Dodger offense doesn’t support them, the Dodgers are in trouble — just like they were in last year’s NLCS. But that’s always been true. The team’s strength all year has been the front of the rotation (a rotation that Hyun-Jin Ryu should rejoin in the playoffs) and an offense that ranks first in the NL in wins above replacement.

It’s no different than saying that if Madison Bumgarner and Yusmeiro Petit falter or if the Giants offense doesn’t support them, the Giants are in trouble.

It’s no different than saying that if Team X’s best players don’t perform, Team X is in trouble.

But just think of it this way: If Greinke and Kershaw win their remaining starts and the Giants don’t play .750 ball in their other eight games, the NL West is over.