Written by AP at ESPN.com
Alex Wood’s fastball wasn’t as sharp as usual, yet his stuff was still effective and the results were the same. Another win.
He allowed two solo home runs in earning his 16th victory of the year for the Dodgers.
Adrian Gonzalez hit his third home run of an injury-plagued season and Los Angeles beat the San Diego Padres 9-2 on Tuesday night to clinch home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs.
Yasmani Grandal and Corey Seager each had a three-run homer to back Wood (16-3) as the NL West champions improved to 101-57. The victory, coupled with Washington’s loss at Philadelphia, guaranteed the Dodgers will finish with the best record in the NL.
Still, there’s uncertainty. Los Angeles has an abundance of proven starting pitchers and before the game, manager Dave Roberts wouldn’t commit to Wood — an All-Star this season — being in the postseason rotation.
Asked if he expected to start in the playoffs, Wood said: “What do you think? It’s out of my control, but I expect to start. I’ve been pretty good all year. Everybody in this clubhouse, I think, the guys trust me with the ball in my hand. We’ll see what happens.”
The Dodgers will open a best-of-five Division Series at home Oct. 6 against the winner of the NL wild-card game, hosted by Arizona. The Diamondbacks’ opponent has not been determined.
The Dodgers also moved closer to securing home-field advantage if they reach the World Series for the first time since 1988. They are 2½ games ahead of Cleveland (98-59) for the top mark in the majors.
“That’s huge,” Seager said about earning the home-field edge through the NL Championship Series. “We’re obviously really good at home. The next step is to try to finish out and get home-field advantage throughout the whole postseason.”
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