Dodgers clinch 14th consecutive playoff berth, tie Braves for MLB record

Dodgers clinch 14th consecutive playoff berth, tie Braves for MLB record.

Key points

• The 1991-2005 Braves won 14 consecutive NL East titles – the 1994 strike-shortened season crowned no champion – under Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox.
• Yet the Dodgers have three World Series titles – 2020, 2024 and 2025, and working on a fourth – while the Braves' lone championship came in 1995.
• By one measure, these Los Angeles Dodgers stand shoulder to shoulder with the great Atlanta Braves teams of the 1990s.
• The Dodgers didn't need a bye to win the World Series last year, dispatching Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Milwaukee to reach the Fall Classic.
• Bob Nightengale examines reservations surrounding Shohei Ohtani's health and what they could mean for the Dodgers as they prepare for another playoff run.

Dodgers clinch 14th consecutive playoff berth, tie Braves for MLB record. Gabe Lacques USA TODAY. Could Shohei Ohtani's health jeopardize Dodgers' playoff run?

Meanwhile, the Dodgers clinched their 14th consecutive playoff berth Monday, Sept. 14 by defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 4-1. That victory ensured the Dodgers (91-59) would stretch their playoff streak to 14 years, tying the Braves for the longest consecutive postseason run in Major League Baseball history.

When they won 106 games, one fewer than the San Francisco Giants, thirteen of the Dodgers' postseason trips have come by winning the National League West; their lone wild-card berth in this stretch came in 2021. The 1991-2005 Braves won 14 consecutive NL East titles – the 1994 strike-shortened season crowned no champion – under Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox.

Yet the Dodgers have three World Series titles – 2020, 2024 and 2025, and working on a fourth – while the Braves' lone championship came in 1995. How the Dodgers clinched.

They nailed down a playoff berth in a manner befitting their organizational might. Kyle Tucker, signed in the offseason to a contract that pays him a record $60 million annually, obtained the scoring kicked off with a solo homer off Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo in the second inning. Teoscar Hernández followed with a two-run shot for a 3-0 lead in the fourth.

For context, the longballs came in backing of left-hander Tarik Skubal, the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner acquired from the Detroit Tigers for a package of elite prospects at the trade deadline. Skubal pitched seven shutout innings, striking out nine Reds and giving up just three singles. The Dodgers have won his past five starts and his ERA is now 2.52 since the trade to L.A. How the Dodgers obtained here.

It wasn't quite wire-to-wire, but the Dodgers faced little competitive tension this season. They won nine of their first 11 games and 15 of their first 19 and spent just four days in May in second place, a half-game behind the Padres. The Dodgers took over first place for good after winning the final two games of a three-game series against San Diego May 19-20.

Not that there weren't hurdles. As knee, tricep and neck maladies proved too much for him even at the plate, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani landed on the injured list for the first time as a Dodger in September. He will not pitch again this season. Lefty Blake Snell did not pitch until May 9, created one start and then landed on the IL for three more months after surgery to remove loose bodies from his throwing elbow.

Closer Edwin Díaz, signed to a two-year, $69 million accord, required elbow surgery and is struggling in a late-season minor league rehab assignment. All-Star center fielder Andy Pages needed surgery after an August hand fracture and hopes to return in time for the postseason.

Yet it's been another dominant run for a club attempting a three-peat. Skubal joined All-Star and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto atop the rotation at the trade deadline and Snell returned last month.

Veteran third baseman Max Muncy, 36, is having an excellent year, with 28 home runs and an.850 OPS, and needs two homers to tie Ohtani for the team lead.

We're not close, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts informed his team in his postgame toast, to playing the way we're going to play. Our best baseball is yet to come. What's next for the Dodgers?

They will clinch the NL West any day now, with a magic number of three after their win Monday. Another win in Cincinnati paired with two Padres losses at Colorado would offer them the division. They entered Monday with a three-game lead over Atlanta for the No. 2 seed in the NL and a first-round bye.

For context, the Dodgers didn't need a bye to win the World Series last year, dispatching Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Milwaukee to reach the Fall Classic. Yet given Ohtani's pitching unavailability and health uncertainty, they'd certainly welcome the bye. Share your feedback to support improve our site!

For now, dodgers clinch 14th consecutive playoff berth, tie Braves for MLB record remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.