The Dodgers are about to play another end-of-season tiebreaker.

It’s a scenario that hasn’t been kind to them over the years.Los Angeles will take on Colorado for the NL West title Monday http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-josh-bell-jersey , one of two one-game playoffs that day in the National League. The Cubs and Brewers also need to break a tie for the NL Central.These aren’t elimination games — the losers will end up as the NL wild cards — but there will still be some pressure, since the division winners head straight to the Division Series. The tiebreakers are considered part of the regular season, and stats are counted accordingly.For the Dodgers, these not-quite-postseason games have been fraught with peril. When they were in Brooklyn, the Dodgers finished tied with the rival Giants for the 1951 NL pennant, and then famously lost a three-game series to New York on a home run by Bobby Thomson . The 1946 pennant was also decided by a best-of-three tiebreaker, with the Cardinals beating Brooklyn in two straight .After moving to Los Angeles, the Dodgers did win a best-of-three series against the Milwaukee Braves for the 1959 pennant Ivan Nova Jersey , but three years later, it was the Giants again who stood in the way. San Francisco scored four runs in the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium for the decisive victory of a three-game tiebreaker series for the 1962 pennant.A one-game playoff in 1980 was no better for the Dodgers, who were beaten 7-1 by Houston for the NL West championship.The Rockies have a much happier (and shorter) history with these games. They won a wild card in 2007 by beating San Diego in a one-game playoff. That game went 13 innings, with Colorado prevailing 9-8 when Matt Holliday may or may not have touched the plate when he was credited with the winning run .The Cubs won the NL wild card in 1998 by beating San Francisco 5-3 in a one-game playoff.Elsewhere around the majors:LIKE CLOCKWORKAssuming Nolan Arenado doesn’t hit 12 in Colorado’s playoff game Monday, Oakland’s Khris Davis will be this year’s major league home run leader with 48. Davis, however, was getting attention for a different reason Sunday. He finished the season with a .247 batting average — the same figure he had in each of the previous three years. His career average is .248.HIGHLIGHTThe Atlanta Braves are NL East champions and will play in the NL Division Series against … somebody. Once Monday’s playoff games are over, the Braves will know their opponent — it’s whoever wins the NL West. The postseason will be a chance for a wide audience to see star rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-josh-bell-jersey , who showed off his talent Sunday with a leaping catch high against the wall in left field on a drive by Philadelphia’s Carlos Santana.LINE OF THE WEEKThe Rockies forced their way into that playoff for the NL West title by routing Washington 12-0 on Sunday. Charlie Blackmon hit for the cycle with a triple in the first inning, a homer in the third, a single in the fifth and a double in the eighth.Colorado had another impressive individual performance earlier in the week when German Marquez began a start against Philadelphia with eight straight strikeouts , tying a record. Jim Deshaies set the modern record by striking out his first eight batters in a 1986 game, and Jacob deGrom matched the feat in 2014. Marquez is set to start Monday’s playoff game. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sean Reid-Foley acknowledged he was a bundle of nerves from his first pitch to his last in his big league debut.Ryan O’Hearn homered and drove in a career-high three runs, Brad Keller threw seven strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Monday night to spoil Reid-Foley’s first game.Reid-Foley (0-1) was removed after 97 pitches and five innings, allowing three runs Brad Hand Jersey , six hits and three walks while striking out three. Considered among Toronto’s top pitching prospects, the 22-year-old Reid-Foley is only the second player in major league history to be born in Guam. He was 12-4 with a 2.98 ERA in 23 minor league starts this season.“I couldn’t really feel my body because I was so nervous,” Reid-Foley said. “I felt like my legs weren’t really working. That’s why a lot of my misses were way out of the zone. I was still nervous in the fifth. Every pitch, still nervous.”O’Hearn, a rookie who entered hitting .130 with three RBIs, hit an opposite-field homer on Reid-Foley’s first pitch with Brett Phillips aboard with two outs in the second.“(Opposite-field power) is something that has kind of got me here,” O’Hearn said. “It’s definitely something that has been one of my strengths.”O’Hearn walked with the bases loaded in the fourth to bring home Lucas Duda, who led off the inning with a single.Keller (5-5) yielded one run and four hits to pick up his third victory in his past four decisions.Wily Peralta worked around Justin Smoak’s walk leading off the ninth for his seventh save.Devon Travis homered in the first for Toronto. It was his fourth home run in 26 at-bats at Kauffman Stadium.“The pitch before http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey , he shattered his bat,” Keller said. “So I tried to go back in there and he barreled with me around the pole. I made a good pitch and didn’t dwell on it and just tried to go after the next guy.”Jansen singled to left in the second in his first big league at-bat.“The whole day I was trying to tell myself it’s the same game,” Jansen said. “And when I got into the box I was just trying to breathe and trying to put a barrel on the ball.Russell Martin tried to score from second on Jansen’s single, but Alex Gordon threw him out. Gordon picked up his ninth assist and leads the majors with 91 outfield assists since 2010 when he was moved from third base to left field.Salvador Perez threw out Randal Grichuk on a strike them out, throw them out double play to end the sixth. Perez has thrown out eight of 10 since the All-Star break.“You dare them to run,” Royals manager Ned Yost said on Gordon and Perez. “I’m like, ‘please run.'”Whit Merrifield had three of Kansas City’s seven hits. The Royals got their second victory in 11 games.The Blue Jays dropped 31 games behind AL East leader Boston, the furthest they have been out of first since ending 2004 33 ½ games behind the New York Yankees.RARE DUO DEBUTINGReid-Foley and Jansen became the first batterymates to make their major league debuts at the same time in the American League since LHP Billy Rohr and C Russ Gibson on April 14 Tyson Ross Jersey , 1967 for Boston at Yankee Stadium. It has occurred five times in the past 25 years in the National League.“Both those guys ought to feel real good, even if it was a bad result,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.ROYALS DEFENSE SHINESThe Royals played their 13th straight errorless game, extending their club record. They have not committed an error in 120 innings.“One thing we’ve consistently done this year is play defense,” Yost said. “The same tune we were playing in the championship years. I’m pleased with the way we’ve played defensively. It’s a real struggle when you’re not winning games and playing sloppy defense. At least defensively, we’re giving ourselves a chance.”Their last error was July 29 in the first inning at Yankee Stadium.TRAINER’S ROOMBlue Jays: 3B Josh Donaldson (left calf tightness) will begin running the bases this week. Gibbons is hopeful that Donaldson will play again this season. … An MRI revealed IF Yangervis Solarte (oblique) has a Grade 2 strain. He will be re-evaluated in three weeks.Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (shoulder impingement) was placed on the disabled list. RHP Glenn Sparkman was recalled from Triple-A Omaha and will start on Thursday in Duffy’s place.UP NEXTBlue Jays: LHP Ryan Borucki is 2-2 with 2.81 ERA in his first eight starts.Royals: RHP Heath Fillmyer pitched seven scoreless innings against the Cubs to win his previous start.