SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly had plenty of reasons to want to see his club wrap up the National League West title Monday night.
Among them: He probably could use as much time as possible to figure out his postseason roster.
Mattingly used 25 players in Monday’s 3-2, 12-inning loss to the San Francisco. That’s the postseason roster limit.
Seventeen of the 25 Mattingly employed Monday were position players. That’s at least four more than he figures to carry on his postseason roster.
But who gets left home?
One guy fighting for a spot is utilityman Enrique Hernandez, who returned from a hamstring injury Monday and helped his cause with a 2-for-2 effort off the bench.
And then there’s outfielder Scott Schebler, the only left-handed bat on Mattingly’s bench Monday. He proved his worth with a pinch-hit single leading off the 11th inning.
Of course, if/when outfielder Yasiel Puig returns from his hamstring strain, there goes another spot.
Mattingly has a tough task ahead of him … and that’s on top of winning one more regular-season game to assure there will be a postseason.