National League West has only one team set to battle in postseason

By Eddie Hughes

Barry Bonds has hit a lot of home runs this year—Adrian Beltre has hit more.

That’s just one reason the Los Angeles Dodgers are a better team than the San Francisco Giants.

Beltre’s 48 home runs this season leads the major leagues and are tied for the most ever by a third baseman. Bonds isn’t far behind with 45 homers, but that’s where the teams’ similarities end.

The biggest difference is the “team” factor itself. The Giants are built on the star power of Bonds and pitching ace Jason Schmidt.

The Dodgers’ foundation is playing with fundamentals, working together and playing hard. They act like a team.

True, Los Angeles doesn’t have a single player who is even close to Bonds in talent level and doesn’t have a starting pitcher that can be as dominant as Schmidt.

But, apparently, they don’t need either of those things.

Not with Beltre, Shawn Green, Milton Bradley and Steve Finley supplying the offense. Not with Cesar Izturis and Alex Cora turning double plays quicker than the fans’ eyes can keep up with them. And not with a deeper pitching staff top to bottom.

Oh, and speaking of pitching, the Giants don’t have Eric Gagne. Their closer, Dustin Hermanson, strikes about as much fear into opponents as Gagne’s glove. Translation—Hermanson isn’t imposing.

Gagne only pitches one or two innings, but if he comes in while the Dodgers are ahead, they’re not going to lose. Count on it.

The Giants’ bullpen is one of its weaknesses. The Dodgers boast the best bullpen earned run average in baseball at 2.97. The Giants’ is 4.71—the seventh worst in the big leagues.

The Giants’ bullpen is full of guys who would be parallel to the cast of “Average Joe” if baseball was a reality television series.

Hermanson is a starter-turned-closer with a 6-7 record and 4.41 ERA. Jim Brower has a 3.48 ERA but has blown four of his five save opportunities. Matt Herges started the year as the closer, blowing seven of his 30 save opportunities and has a 5.10 ERA. Jason Christensen, Tyler Walker and Scott Eyre all have ERA in the 4.00s.

The Dodgers’ magic number is three after beating the Colorado Rockies in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night.

Los Angeles is three games ahead of the Giants in the National League West with five remaining for each team.

And with a looming three-game series between the two teams this weekend, the Dodgers are likely to take two of three from San Francisco for the second straight weekend. That will allow Los Angeles to enter the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

Not because the Dodgers have more star power. It’s because they’re a better, more balanced team.

—This columnist can be reached at [email protected].