Dodgers clinch 14th straight playoff berth, tying MLB record, behind traded ace Skubal

The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a playoff berth for the 14th consecutive season on Monday night, tying the all-time major league record for consecutive postseason appearances with a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Left-hander Tarik Skubal, acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, threw seven scoreless innings to seal it.

The milestone matches the streak the Atlanta Braves built from 1991 through 2005, long considered one of the sport's most unbreakable marks given the sheer number of ways a 162-game season can go sideways. For the Dodgers, who improved to 91-59, it means a 14th straight October and a chance to become the first franchise since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees to win three straight World Series titles.

The numbers behind the streak

Los Angeles has not missed the playoffs since 2012, a run that has produced three World Series titles, including the back-to-back championships of the last two seasons. According to the current major league standings, the Dodgers sit nine games ahead of the San Diego Padres in the National League West and have trimmed their magic number for a division title to three, with roughly two weeks left in the regular season. They are also jockeying with the Atlanta Braves for the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who clinched their own berth days earlier.

Monday's win itself was tidy by October-preview standards. Skubal, making his eighth start since the trade, struck out nine, walked one and allowed three hits before handing off to the bullpen. Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández each hit solo home runs to account for the Dodgers' offense, and closer Evan Phillips surrendered a 457-foot home run to Cincinnati's Elly De La Cruz in the ninth — the only run the Reds would manage. The result dropped Cincinnati further behind in its own wild-card chase.

How the Dodgers got here

The clinch was delayed by a weekend stumble — Los Angeles had a chance to secure a spot over the previous two games in Miami but lost both. Monday's win finally closed it out, with center fielder Kiké Hernández fielding the final grounder and flipping it to first base to end the game with little fanfare from a team that has come to expect October baseball as a matter of course.

Much of the Dodgers' pitching depth this season traces back to the trade deadline, when the club made one of the sport's most surprising moves by acquiring Skubal from the Tigers on August 2 in exchange for outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith. Skubal, the reigning back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner and a two-time All-Star, became just the sixth reigning Cy Young winner in modern history to be dealt in-season, and the first since Justin Verlander was traded from Houston in 2023. It was a pure rental for Detroit, since Skubal is eligible for free agency this winter, but it immediately reshaped a Los Angeles rotation that had been thinned by injuries. Since the trade, Skubal has gone 10-7 with a 2.52 ERA across eight starts, according to his career record.

Who is affected

The Dodgers are not entirely healthy heading into the stretch run. First baseman Freddie Freeman has been managing right knee soreness, and two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani has been dealing with right biceps inflammation that has limited his workload on the mound, though both remain in the everyday lineup. For the Reds, the loss is another blow to a team still fighting for a National League wild-card spot in a crowded field, and it means Cincinnati's series with the two-time defending champions carries little drama beyond pride with two games still to play.

For Detroit, the trade's long shadow lingers. Dealing away a two-time reigning Cy Young winner in the middle of a season was a franchise-altering bet, made to restock the farm system rather than chase a fading postseason push, and Monday's box score was a reminder of exactly what the Tigers gave up.

Reaction from the clubhouse

True to a team that has made this an annual ritual, the celebration inside the visiting clubhouse at Great American Ball Park was understated. Players shared a round of drinks, took a few photos and moved on to preparing for Tuesday's game.

"It's hard to say it ever feels routine, but it is the expectation here," third baseman Max Muncy said of clinching a playoff spot for the 14th year running.

Manager Dave Roberts, who has never missed the playoffs in his 11 seasons running the Los Angeles Dodgers, credited the club's depth. "We go through a lot of players every year, and guys find a way to step up," Roberts said. Skubal, adjusting to a very different culture than the one he left in Detroit, called the low-key clinch "different than anything I've experienced," adding that it "speaks to the people in this room and what they expect out of this team."

What happens next

With the division still not officially wrapped up, Los Angeles turns Tuesday to right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who takes a 13-8 record and a 2.62 ERA into the finale of the Reds series. A division title would let the Dodgers avoid the best-of-three wild-card round entirely and open the postseason with a bye, a scheduling edge the club has said it wants after starting last October as a lower seed. Los Angeles has roughly two and a half weeks left to settle seeding before the playoffs begin, all while trying to keep Freeman, Ohtani and a battered bullpen intact for a run at an unprecedented third straight title.