国联西区比赛对道奇队来说是最好的事情

过去两个十月，圣地亚哥教士队和亚利桑那响尾蛇队并没有给道奇队带来任何好处，毫不客气地将他们踢出了季后赛。

The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks did the Los Angeles Dodgers no favors the past two Octobers, kicking them out of the postseason unceremoniously.

过去两个十月，圣地亚哥教士队和亚利桑那响尾蛇队并没有给洛杉矶道奇队带来任何好处，毫不客气地将他们踢出了季后赛。

But those same two teams might be doing the Dodgers a favor now.

但同样的两支球队现在可能正在帮道奇队一个忙。

The Padres and Diamondbacks are pushing the Dodgers in the National League West like they have rarely been pushed while winning 10 of the past 11 division titles. And the Dodgers are welcoming it.

教士队和响尾蛇队在国家联盟西部向道奇队发起进攻，他们在过去 11 个分区冠军中赢得了 10 个冠军，这是他们很少被逼迫的。道奇队对此表示欢迎。

“This is my second year here, and last year we kind of ran away with the division,” veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said. “It was really easy, and I know these guys are used to that. They win over 100 games every single year. Having someone chasing you is always a good motivation to continue to hold the lead. Teams that want to go to the World Series, they need to play good at the end of the year. I’m not saying that we haven’t played good at the end of the year, but we haven’t played with this pressure lately.

“这是我来这里的第二年，去年我们有点落后了，”老将内野手米格尔·罗哈斯说。 “这真的很容易，我知道这些人已经习惯了。他们每年赢得超过 100 场比赛。有人追赶你总是一个很好的动力，让你继续保持领先地位。想要进入世界大赛的球队，他们需要在年底发挥出色。我并不是说我们在年底打得不好，但我们最近没有在这种压力下打球。

“I can talk about last year. I mean, September felt like you didn’t have anything to play for. This year, we’ve got a different motivation – to hold the lead and win the division.”

“我可以谈谈去年的事情。我的意思是，九月感觉你没有什么可玩的。今年，我们有不同的动力——保持领先并赢得分区冠军。”

A year ago, the Dodgers won the division by 16 games, holding a double-digit lead from mid-August on. After 128 games in 2022 (the same point in the season the Dodgers reached Tuesday), they led the division by 19½ games. At the same point in 2019 and 2017, the lead was 20 games.

一年前，道奇队以 16 胜的优势赢得了分区冠军，从 8 月中旬开始就保持着两位数的领先优势。 2022 年打完 128 场比赛后（道奇队周二也达到了该赛季的同一分），他们领先分区 19.5 场。 2019年和2017年同一时刻，领先优势都是20场。

This year, the lead is four games (3½ if the Padres win Thursday night).

今年，领先优势为 4 场（如果教士队周四晚上获胜，则领先 3.5 场）。

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux said. “It forces a sense of urgency with everyone. Every game you play is meaningful. I think in years past where we’ve kind of cruised the last six weeks of the season, now you feel you kind of like you have to win every game. I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. I think it creates a sense of urgency which probably helps in the long run, especially in October.”

“我不认为这是一件坏事，”道奇队二垒手加文·勒克斯说。 “这让每个人都产生了紧迫感。你玩的每场比赛都有意义。我想在过去的几年里，我们在赛季的最后六周里表现得很好，现在你觉得你必须赢得每场比赛。我认为这根本不是一件坏事。我认为这会产生一种紧迫感，从长远来看可能会有所帮助，尤其是在十月份。”

By this time most seasons, the Dodgers could have nothing on their minds but October. They talked up the virtues of clinching early those years – resting players, letting injured players heal and setting up the pitching staff for the postseason.

到了大多数赛季的这个时候，道奇队除了十月之外就没有其他事情了。他们谈到了那些年早期锁定胜局的好处——让球员休息，让受伤的球员痊愈，并为季后赛做好投手的准备。

“You know, I think you can look at it both ways,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Being in a real pennant race I think certainly brings out the best in individuals, teams, I think. The other side of the coin is, you just don’t have the luxury of resting guys or not kind of red-lining certain guys because every game is even more magnified. That’s not necessarily a good thing.

“你知道，我认为你可以从两个方面来看待它，”道奇队经理戴夫·罗伯茨说。 “我认为参加真正的三角旗比赛肯定会激发个人和团队的最佳表现。硬币的另一面是，你没有足够的时间让球员休息，也没有给某些球员设置红线，因为每场比赛都更加放大。这不一定是好事。

“I look at it as it’s a good thing for us and as we deal with Freddie (Freeman and his injured finger) and other guys coming back. Some other guys … because of necessity, they have really stepped up for us. They’ll be able to get back to their individual role which will be better for them. But overall, I mean, you play this game for competition and we’re in a competition for the next month.”

“我认为这对我们来说是一件好事，因为我们要处理弗雷迪（弗里曼和他受伤的手指）和其他回来的人。其他一些人……因为必要，他们确实为我们挺身而出。他们将能够回到自己的个人角色，这对他们来说更好。但总的来说，我的意思是，你玩这款游戏是为了竞争，我们将在下个月进行竞争。”

That creates a sense of urgency. In past years while running away with the division, the Dodgers had to manufacture their own sense of urgency.

这会产生一种紧迫感。在过去的几年里，当道奇队与分区赛跑时，他们必须制造自己的紧迫感。

“It’s not the same. It’s not the same,” Roberts admitted. “But I just don’t know if there’s a right or wrong. It’s just kind of how it plays out and if you win a World Series or not. What’s the right way to get there?”

“这不一样。这不一样，”罗伯茨承认。 “但我只是不知道这是对还是错。这只是事情的结果以及你是否赢得世界大赛的方式。到达那里的正确方法是什么？”

It hasn’t been the right way in recent years. The Dodgers ran away with the division in 2019, 2022 and 2023 then lost in the first round of the playoffs each year.

近年来，这不是正确的方法。道奇队在2019年、2022年和2023年都夺得了分区冠军，然后每年都在季后赛首轮失利。

But veteran reliever Daniel Hudson isn’t ready to draw conclusions.

但老将中继投手丹尼尔·哈德森还没有准备好下结论。

“It’s fricking baseball,” Hudson said. “You can look at it from multiple angles and think one way is better than the other. But at the end of the day, our game is so fricking flukey sometimes that you just have a rough stretch where things don’t go your way and all of a sudden you’re out in three games in the division series. And then people are, ‘Oh, if they were playing meaningful games on Sept. 30 then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.’ But it can still happen that way too. You can run into a hot pitching staff, a hot lineup and (stuff) happens. It’s unlike any other sport. There’s just so much stuff that can happen that you can’t really predict.

“这真是棒极了的棒球，”哈德森说。 “你可以从多个角度看待它，并认为一种方法比另一种方法更好。但归根结底，我们的比赛有时太他妈的侥幸了，以至于你会经历一段艰难的时期，事情不会按照你的方式发展，突然间你在分区系列赛的三场比赛中就出局了。然后人们就会说，“哦，如果他们在 9 月 30 日玩有意义的游戏，那么也许这一切就不会发生。”但这种情况仍然可能发生。你可能会遇到炙手可热的投手、炙手可热的阵容，然后（事情）就会发生。它不同于任何其他运动。可能发生的事情太多了，你无法真正预测。

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