Getting all dreamy over the Dodgers’ final month

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And now a little dream for the last month of the season …

The Dodgers continue to play well, finish over .500 and in second place, ahead of the Giants.

If that doesn’t exactly get you all tingly, it sure beats when the Dodgers were 14 games under .500 on July 6.

Is it likely? Absolutely not. Is it possible? Sure it is. The Dodgers would have to finish 18-10 to end the season to finish 82-80.

Hey, everything’s relative. Compared to where the Dodgers were, that’s a very nice finish. All things considered, ending over .500 would be a minor achievement.

‘It would feel good to get back there,’’ said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. ‘That was my goal, right, to get there by the break?”

Right, only it was supposed to be the one in the middle of the season and not the big one at the end.

Almost quietly, the Dodgers are playing some of their best baseball of the season. I said, it’s all relative. They went into Wednesday’s game having won seven of their last eight, and had slipped past the Rockies back into third in the National League West.

Next up: the fading Giants.

And that would be at least a little sweet, in a year painfully shy of saccharine. Particularly in a season when the Giants have crowed all year about the only World Series title won in San Francisco history.

The Giants (71-65) are playing like a deflated team, struggling with their current lot in life, or at least in the NL West. They’d have to continue their downward spiral for the Dodgers to have any shot at passing them, but at least it’s a shot.

‘I’d like to keep going and win as many games as we can possibly win,’’ Mattingly said. ‘The biggest thing I’ve been proud of is ... this club has not quit playing. They didn’t quit when we were really struggling, and they kept playing hard then. They’re playing the same way now but we’re getting wins.”

And allowing a small dream for the final month.

-- Steve Dilbeck