Los Angeles Dodgers Attempting to Join 2 Other Teams in History Books Wednesday

The Los Angeles Dodgers took down the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday evening to move the club's record to 89-35 on the year. With a victory Wednesday, the Dodgers would become just the third team in MLB history to win 90 of their first 125 games, per Baseball Reference.

Only the 1944 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1998 New York Yankees can claim the same fate since 1913, and both of those clubs went on to win the World Series.

Los Angeles almost lost the opportunity at history Monday, blowing a 5-3 lead in the eighth inning before right fielder Yasiel Puig hit a solo home run in the top of the 12th to give the club a 2-0 victory. The team has won eight of its last nine contests and 10 of the last 12.

The Dodgers own the best record in baseball by a wide margin. The closest team to the Dodgers is the Washington Nationals, but their .610 winning percentage sits over 100 points behind the Dodgers .718 mark.

With just over a month remaining in the regular season, Los Angeles owns a 21-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL West lead, which should allow them to lock up the division sooner than any other team this season. Even more impressive, the team has continued its success without ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw—who has been sidelined since July 23 due to a back injury.

Kershaw is scheduled to throw either four innings or 60 pitches as part of a rehab assignment Saturday, per Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times. Assuming all goes well, he should return to the starting rotation relatively soon. The team's record allows them to take a cautious route with their ace's health to ensure he's ready for the postseason.

Rich Hill takes the mound for the Dodgers in the potentially historic contest, squaring off against the Pirates in and starter Trevor Williams in the third of a four-game series.