The Dodgers just secured the NL West title and are setting their sights on the Rockies

The Los Angeles Dodgers are used to playing in the postseason, but Shohei Ohtani will get a taste of it for the first time in his seven-year career.

The two-time American League MVP, who will likely win the NL Award this year, led Los Angeles to another NL West title.

Ohtani will try to put the finishing touches on this campaign Friday night when the Dodgers (95-64) begin a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies in Denver.

Los Angeles clinched the division with a 7-2 win over San Diego on Thursday night.

The Rockies will send Cal Quantrill (8-10, 4.72 ERA) to the mound on Friday. The Dodgers have not named a starter.

Ohtani became the first major league player to hit at least 50 home runs and 50 steals in a season and helped Los Angeles capture its 11th league title in the last 12 years. He is also the first player since Barry Bonds, Todd Helton, Luis Gonzalez and Sammy Sosa in 2001 to total 400 bases in a season.

Los Angeles will be without shortstop Miguel Rojas for the final three games of the regular season. An MRI on Thursday showed he has a mild tear in his groin/adductor region and will miss the postseason.

“It's something he's had all year as far as dealing with it symptomatically, so he's going to take a few days off and we'll see where he's at on Sunday,” manager Dave Roberts said Thursday. “But he’s determined to make sure he’s ready for the postseason.”

The division win gives Rojas four additional days of rest — the Dodgers play at home on Oct. 5 instead of Tuesday in the wild-card round — and gives first baseman Freddie Freeman a chance to recover. Freeman limped off the field in Thursday's game after twisting his right ankle in the seventh inning.

After the game, he was in the clubhouse in walking boots and on crutches. Freeman had negative X-rays and the Dodgers are optimistic he will be ready for the playoffs.

Colorado (61-98), meanwhile, is trying to avoid a second straight 100-loss season and helped its cause with a 10-8 comeback win over St. Louis on Thursday. The Rockies nearly won the last series against the Dodgers, but Los Angeles bounced back in Sunday's rubber game at home. Now Colorado wants to get a strong result in front of its home crowd and give veteran Charlie Blackmon a retirement gift.

“The games against the Dodgers for them were hard-fought,” Rockies manager Bud Black said Thursday. “We could have won two of three games, but two of their big boys caught us in the ninth.”

Quantrill started the only game that Colorado won last week in Los Angeles, but did not factor him into the decision. He will face the Dodgers for the eighth time in his career and is 1-5 with a 7.18 ERA in his last seven games – six of them in the starting lineup.

–Field level media