Under the prudent stewardship of Manager Joe Torre, the LA Dodgers are taking the 2009 campaign one game at a time; or at least he is preaching that inch-by-inch, sober approach. But you can't help looking forward, at least as a fan, especially to the schedule between now and playoff time in October.

What's coming up?

Let's start backwards, shall we? The last three games of the regular season are against the Colorado Rockies. Yes, that's the team that seems more and more like the pesky Pinkerton posse in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

"Who ARE Those Guys?"

Well, the Rockies are in second place right now, only five games back of the Blue Crew. If the Rocks can keep rolling and pick up just two more games on the Dodgers, by the time the teams meet for that last set in early October, a Colorado sweep would tie the regular season for first place, and summon a one-game showdown.

Talk about a nail-biter!

It can happen, especially as the Dodgers seem to be cooling and Colorado is hot on their heels. But the good news for LA is the September schedule. It is loaded with games with also-rans: San Diego, Washington, and Arizona among them. If the Dodgers can't pick up the slack in that month, they may not deserve a post-season encore.

And what kind of September are the Rocks looking at?

It's slightly more challenging than LA's but not by much. Their stiffest competition will come from a three game set with the Mets, unless the Giants fight their way back into contention for second place and a potential Wild Card run.