At the time of the season when the games count the most Kevin Pillar Jersey , the Los Angeles Dodgers are counting on a couple of starting pitchers who have spent key portions of the season on the disabled list.Hyun-Jin Ryu was uneven once more Tuesday as the Dodgers lost yet again to the Cincinnati Reds, and now they’ll turn to All-Star right-hander Ross Stripling — who will make his first start in more than a month — to try to salvage one victory against the last-place Reds.Stripling (8-3) will make one of the Dodgers’ most important starts all season Wednesday at Great American Ball Park against Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (7-4) as the three-game series wraps up.Article continues below ...And if the Dodgers don’t make it to the NL postseason despite the plethora of star-quality talent they possess, and after winning the NL West the previous five seasons, the Reds — of all teams — could be the major culprit.Scott Schebler and Brandon Dixon homered to support Luis Castillo’s effective pitching over 6 1-3 innings, and first baseman Dixon made a heads-up play to turn Alex Verdugo’s grounder into a game-ending double play in the ninth as the Reds beat the Dodgers for the sixth straight times 3-1 Tuesday night.Schebler, Dixon and Jose Peraza came to the Reds from the Dodgers in a 2015 trade, and they combined to go 5-for-11 with two homers. Castillo limited the Dodgers to one run and four hits while striking out nine.NL batting leader Scooter Gennett had two more hits after getting four Monday night and is 16-for-22 (.727) against the Dodgers this season.The Reds came into this series off five losses in seven games and 13 losses in 18 games, yet they’ve won the first two games against a team that took two of three from the first-place Colorado Rockies last weekend. And the Reds swept a four-game series in Dodger Stadium from May 10-13, the first time they’ve done that since 1976.The Dodgers are a combined 2-10 against the Marlins and Reds, two of the NL’s three last-place clubs.“I have no idea why (the Reds are dominating the Dodgers),” Dixon told Fox Sports Ohio. “But getting to play the Dodgers, where I came from, it’s definitely fun. I know some of their guys and getting to hit a home run against them (is fun).”Starting Stripling allows the Dodgers to push back left-hander Clayton Kershaw to the first-game of a four-game series against the contending St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday at Busch Stadium. But manager Dave Roberts expects Stripling to throw only 45 pitches or so http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-russell-martin-jersey , meaning it very well could be a bullpen game.“We’re a team that plays matchups, so if a lefty is up in the rotation but the team we’re facing has trouble against righties (he’ll likely start instead of relieve),” Stripling said.Stripling was on the disabled list for nearly a month with lower back stiffness before pitching one-third of an inning Friday against Colorado. In his last start, he held the Rockies to one run and four hits over six innings of an 8-5 Dodgers victory on Aug. 9.DeSclafani lasted at least six innings in all five of his August starts, going 3-1 with a 2.62 ERA, but has been limited to 7 2/3 innings during two no-decision starts in September, although the Reds won both games. He is 1-3 with a 3.12 ERA in four career starts against the Dodgers but hasn’t faced them since Aug. 21, 2016.Nobody with the Dodgers is saying if they looked past the Reds to the key Cardinals series, yet they’ve struggled with Cincinnati much like they did in their previous series four months ago.Roberts rested his hottest hitter, Justin Turner, on Tuesday, although Turner grounded into a threat-ending force play with the bases loaded in the seventh as a pinch-hitter. Joc Pederson went 2-for-4 with a homer, but the rest of the Dodgers lineup contributed only three hits.“It was very difficult to not play him Josh Donaldson Jersey , because you know you’re always better with him in the lineup,” Roberts said of Turner, who is hitting .374 with eight homers and 23 RBIs since coming off the disabled list Aug. 2. “But over the last few years, we’ve been able to keep him healthy by managing his workload.”Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman credited Castillo, saying, “That’s a really good lineup they’ve got.“There are a lot of threats in that lineup. But he did a good job. He had a great changeup … and his velocity, here it is Sept. 11 and he hit 98 (mph) a couple of times. It’s nice to see he feels that good.”Ryu (4-3), who was out more than two months with a groin injury, gave up three runs and eight hits over five innings. He is 1-3 with two no-decisions since coming off the disabled list Aug. 15 and has given up 18 hits in 11 innings over his last two starts. Dylan Buell/Getty ImagesOne week remains in the 2018 MLB regular season, and the playoff picture is finally starting to take shape.So far, five teams have clinched a spot in the postseason. The Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves have secured their respective divisions, the Houston Astros have sealed a spot andhave a lead in theirdivision race Joe Carter Jersey , and the New York Yankees will be one of the participants in the AL Wild Card Game.What remains is essentially six teams fighting for five spots, with three division titles still to be decided.An updated look at thepostseason bracket is available at MLB.com.Below are the AL and NL wild-card standings, along with each team's odds of reaching the postseason following Sunday's action, according to FanGraphs.American Leaguex-New York Yankees,95-60 (WC1); 100.0 percent playoff oddsOakland Athletics,94-62 (WC2); 100.0 percent playoff oddsTampa Bay Rays, 87-68 (6.5 GB); 0.0 percent playoff oddsSeattle Mariners, 85-70 (8.5 GB); eliminated from playoffsNational LeagueMilwaukee Brewers, 89-67 (WC1); 99.0 percent playoff oddsSt. Louis Cardinals, 87-69 (WC2); 79.6 percent playoff oddsColorado Rockies,85-70 (1.5 GB); 27.4 percent playoff oddsArizona Diamondbacks, 79-77 (8.0 GB); eliminated from playoffs OutlookThearon W. Henderson/Getty ImagesThe American League side of things is all but decided, as the Rays' elimination number stands at one heading into the week. That means that the next win by Oakland or loss by Tampa Bay will officially clinch a spot for the A's.The AL Wild Card Game will be played on October 3and can be seen on TBS.The National League side is a bit more cluttered.The Chicago Cubs hold a 2.5-game lead over the Brewers in the NL Central standings http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-j.a.-happ-jersey , with the Cardinals at 4.5 games back, so there's still a chance for both of those teams to seize the division title.The same goes for the Rockies, who trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by 1.5 games in the NL West standings.So let's take a closer look at the remaining schedules for each of those five teams:CHC:vs. PIT (4), vs. STL (3)MIL:at STL (3), vs. DET (3)STL:vs. MIL (3), at CHC (3)LAD:at ARI (3), at SF (3)COL:vs. PHI (4), vs. WAS (3)And here's a look at how each team has performed in September, to give an idea of their momentum:CHC:12-9 (+5 RD)MIL:13-7 (+43 RD)STL:11-10 (+8 RD)LAD:14-7 (+47 RD)COL:13-8 (+22 RD)The Cardinals have the toughest road ahead as they face off against the Cubs and Brewers. That also means they control their own destiny to some degree, as a big final week could vault them into the division lead.The Rockies might actually have the most favorable remaining schedule with series against a pair of non-contenders at home, but they're at an obvious disadvantage with a 1.5-game deficit to bridge in both the wild-card race and the NL West standings.The NL Wild Card Game will be played on October 2, and ESPN will have the broadcast.