Joe Torre should sleep a little easier at night knowing that the scheduling gods have given him a fantastic end to the season – now all he has to do is get through August.  Check out the remaining teams and records the Dodgers face in August (a combined one game under.500):

3 games at Arizona (52-63)

3 games vs. St. Louis (64-52)

4 games vs. Chicago (58-54)

3 games at Colorado (63-51)

3 games at Cincinnati (49-64)

1 game vs. Arizona (52-63)

Not so bad, right?  Now let’s look at September and early October:

3 games vs. Arizona (52-63)

3 games vs. San Diego (49-66)

3 games at Arizona (52-63)

3 games at San Francisco (62-52)

3 games vs. Pittsburgh (46-67)

3 games vs. San Francisco (62-52)

3 games at Washington (40-74)

3 games at Pittsburgh (46-67)

2 games at San Diego (49-66)

3 games vs. Colorado (63-51)

That’s 283 combined games under .500.  Yes, that’s right, 283 games under .500, thanks to two sets with the Pirates, one with the Nationals and one with the Padres.  Seems almost unbelievable, doesn’t it?  Hopefully the Dodgers will use this time to get healthy and have their starting pitching develop some much needed confidence as they learn to go deep into each game, preserving the bullpen for the postseason.