By Brandon HENSLEY

It was only a month ago pundits and prognosticators salivated at the thought of a three-team race in the National League West. The Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies were bunched together like brothers forced to share the same room. Excitement and tension were in the air. This was going to be a fun race to watch.

The Dodgers have since put an end to all that. Sure, both the D-backs and Rockies may very well play each other in the wild card game, but LA has looked like not just the best team in baseball this year, but one of the greatest teams in Dodgers’ history. And, for the fifth year in a row, it’s not a matter of if they can win the division, but by how many games they’ll do it.

They are 30-4 in their past 34 games, posting a 65-29 record as of Wednesday.

That’s a pace of 112 wins, which would be the most by an NL team since the 1906 Cubs. They put together 10-game winning streaks like it’s something they expect to do, as if no one should be surprised. If you’ve followed the team at all this season, you know the main storylines: rookie Cody Bellinger is mashing home runs like he’s in a Little League park, Justin Turner is officially a full-fledged star with solid defense and the owner of the highest batting average in the league at .370. The starting rotation is led by Clayton Kershaw, who, despite allowing 18 home runs so far, owns spectacular stats in all the other main categories, and will compete with Washington’s Max Scherzer for another Cy Young. The rest of the rotation has held up so far, most notably Alex Wood, who is 11-0 with a jaw-dropping 1.56 ERA.

All that means though is that there will be even more pressure to succeed in the postseason. The Dodgers don’t exactly flame-out in the playoffs – losing to last year’s Cubs was nothing to feel shame about – but this franchise is starving for a World Series, something it hasn’t won since 1988. Since that magical year, every team in the NL West has at least made a WS appearance, and the rival Giants have won three of them, not that Dodger fans need reminding.

Do the Dodgers make a move before trade deadline? There is talk the team is after Baltimore’s Zach Britton, a reliever who would pair with closer Kenley Jansen, who is clearly the best reliever in the National League (62 strikeouts and only two walks). The Dodger bullpen has mostly done its job, but combining Britton and Jansen would almost make any game an automatic win if the starters can go just five or six innings. Acquiring Britton means the club would mostly likely part with some top prospects, or maybe even Yasiel Puig, whose average is a middling .247 but who has 18 home runs in the eighth spot.

Whatever the Dodgers do or don’t do at the trade deadline, they’ll go into the playoffs with a huge target on their backs, especially if the defending champion Cubs don’t qualify. This is the most well-rounded team since the new ownership took charge in 2012. The bullpen is more reliable than it was in 2014, when then-manager Don Mattingly didn’t trust anyone to relieve Kershaw. The rotation is better than it was in 2015, when Kershaw and Zack Greinke were the only guys anyone wanted to see on the mound, and the offense is better than it was last year.

But it means that this October, Kershaw can’t lose another Game 6; it means Puig needs to contribute for once in the playoffs, and young studs Bellinger and Seager can’t fear the spotlight.

In 2013, after a horrid start, the Dodgers got insanely hot and reeled off a 42-8 run in the middle of the season to run away with the division. They made it to the NLCS, but lost to St. Louis, in part because the hottest hitter in the league, Hanley Ramirez, was hit with a pitch in Game 1 and broke his ribs.

Believe it or not, the 2017 Dodgers are better than that team. If they can stay healthy from now until the playoffs, they will be expected to make the World Series by most fans and media members alike. Before then, when hopes and fears hang on every pitch, at least Dodger fans can take a look at the standings and see just how far the Giants have fallen – 30 games back – and enjoy the rest of the summer.

  Brandon Hensley