The set-up: Los Angeles Dodgers capturing their fourth consecutive NL West title on Sunday and got to savor it with a Monday off day. Dave Roberts' club gets back to the business at hand on Tuesday, opening a three-game series versus the San Diego Padres, before finishing the season with what will be a meaningless (to them) three-game series in San Francisco against the Giants this weekend. Meanwhile, the 66-90 Padres are wrapping up what's becoming a familiar fate, as the team will finish with a losing season for the sixth straight time.

The pitching matchup: Two rookies take the mound tonight, Jose De Leon (2-0, 5.52) for LA and Paul Clemens (3-5, 4.48 ERA) for SD. De Leon is hoping he can be included as LA's fourth postseason starter, following Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill. This will be just his fourth career start and the best of those came against these Padres, when struck out nine in his major-league debut, a 7-4 victory over San Diego back on September 4 (he allowed three ERs in six innings). Clemens has answered a three-start losing skid by yielding just two unearned runs over 10 2/3 innings in his last two outings and this marks his 11th career start but first vs. the Dodgers.

The pick: The Padres helped the Dodgers claim the NL West title due in large part to their success versus second-place San Francisco, splitting a four-game series over the weekend and winning eight of 10 encounters since the All-Star break with the Giants. Yes, the Dodgers have clinched the NL West title but they are not done. They are fighting the 91-65 Nationals for home-field advantage in their NLDS. Washington's lead over Los Angeles is down to one game after a 14-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday and I expect LA to extend its current winning streak to six games tonight. The Dodgers are an 8* play.