The Hunt for Blue October

LAist has been in a bit of a quandary of late. Should we write about the Dodgers as if they are postseason bound or as if they are in a pennant race? Well, we're getting closer to the former each day, as the Dodgers looked like a playoff team in rallying from behind and beating the Cubs 8-5 yesterday.

Without Brad Penny, and with all the other adversity LA has faced this season, the Dodgers now hold a six and a half game lead over the Padres and Giants who are both tied with Chicago for the Wild Card lead.

Steve Finley has been a fantastic acquisition, batting .441/.500/.647 in his first two weeks in LA. And Adrian Beltre continued his MVP caliber season by belting his 33rd home run, now a Dodger record for third basemen.

The success has LAist mulling playoff rotations and October lineups. Would it be better to face the Cubs with Wood-Prior-Maddux-Zambrano who LA plays well against rather than the Braves with Ortiz-Hampton-Thompson-Wright against whom the Dodgers have struggled? Just how might a Penny-Perez-Weaver-Lima rotation stack up in the postseason? How much playing time will Jayson Werth get in October vs. Hee Seop Choi? Does Eric Gagne go out for two-inning saves in a short series, or do the Dodgers rely on Darren Dreifort?

Without a playoff appearance in eight years, these questions are almost foreign to us.

But with a month and a half of baseball left to play, we'll stop right there. For now, the Dodgers need to worry about Paul Lo Duca, Guillermo Mota, and the Marlins coming to town tonight.