Because this week, it sure doesn’t look like it.
What was advertised as a supposed late-season sprint between the first-place Dodgers and second-place San Diego Padres has instead looked more like an army crawl through the mud. Neither team has been able to win games, even against last-place opponents. Neither has capitalized on the other’s mistakes, engaged in what has become a race to the bottom to see who can struggle more.
For the Dodgers, this should have been the moment to pull away in the division. Already up two games at the start of this week, they watched from afar as the injury-ravaged Padres were stunningly swept by the Baltimore Orioles in San Diego, running the Padres’ recent losing streak to four games.