Dodgers usher in October in style

This isn't a series, it's calisthenics.

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The Dodgers shouldn't be here battling baseball's junior varsity, and they know it, and they're intent on pounding and pitching their way out of this embarrassing situation as quickly as possible.

Wild-card round? The defending champions are nobody's wild card.

The Cincinnati Reds? Human byes.

October came a day early to Chavez Ravine on Tuesday and the shouldn't-be-here Dodgers welcomed it with their annoyance, tying a club postseason record with five homers and dismantling the Reds 10-5 in the opener of a three-game wild-card series that should be mercifully completed by midweek.

The Dodgers finished 10 games ahead of the Reds in the standings, and won five out of six during the regular season, and only got lumped with the pretenders when their bullpen fell apart and they blew a chance at having the week off.

If the Dodgers had taken care of business they would have finished with one of the two best records in the National League and would have drawn a first-round bye as they did the previous three seasons.

But, no, they finished behind Milwaukee and Philadelphia and so, even though they claimed the National League West title for the 12th time in 13 years, they were forced into a three-games-at-home wild-card round.

Hello, Reds.

Goodbye, Reds.

The Dodgers will sweep this series with a win in Game 2 on Wednesday, and considering they're sending ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound, a victory seems likely. In any event, there's no way the Reds are winning two straight at rollicking Dodger Stadium, so book your attention to Philadelphia this weekend for the beginning of the five-game division series against the Phillies.

The only way the Reds made it this far was because the New York Mets stumbled down the stretch and lost in Miami on the final day of the season. And if Tuesday was any indication, there's no way the Reds are getting out of here alive.