Dodgers Clinch Home-Field Advantage Throughout NL Playoffs

The Los Angeles Dodgers won't have to start a series away from Dodger Stadium on the road to the World Series this year.

As Major League Baseball noted on Twitter, the Dodgers clinched home-field advantage in the National League playoffs with Tuesday's 9-2 victory over the San Diego Padres. Los Angeles is now 101-57 and cannot finish behind the Washington Nationals in the race for the NL's top seed.

The Dodgers already clinched the NL West title for the fifth year in a row, but a trip to the Fall Classic would mark a break from their recent postseason struggles. They lost in the NL Division Series twice and the NL Championship Series twice in the last four years and haven't won a title since 1988.

While the Dodgers will be starting their series in familiar territory throughout the NLCS, they actually finished 2-3 at home and 3-3 on the road in last season's playoffs and won the decisive Game 5 against the Nationals in the NLDS in Washington.

Despite Tuesday's lopsided score, the Dodgers found themselves trailing 2-1 in the fifth inning after Christian Villanueva and Hunter Renfroe each hit home runs for the Padres. Los Angeles' offense exploded from there, as Yasmani Grandal's three-run long ball gave it the lead for good before Adrian Gonzalez and Corey Seager added insurance with home runs.

The one thing remaining for Los Angeles to clinch is home-field advantage in a potential World Series against the Cleveland Indians or Houston Astros. Cleveland is 98-59, while Houston is 97-60, and each team can mathematically catch the Dodgers down the stretch if the NL West victors go into a short tailspin.