San Francisco Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija this Friday’s starter in Los Angeles works against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 15, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jeremy Harness

 At one point, the Los Angeles Dodgers were flying high atop the major leagues, with no one being able to stop them but themselves.

 Well, the Dodgers have stopped themselves quite a bit lately.

 Although they have clinched a playoff spot, the Dodgers still have not closed out the NL West at this point. That’s because the team has suffered a sudden stretch of ineptitude after absolutely cruising for the first six-and-a-half months of the season and building a sizable lead.

 At press time, the Dodgers still lead the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks by nine games and can wrap up the division this weekend, if not sooner.

 The magic number to clinch the division for Los Angeles is one, so the Dodgers can wrap up the NL West crown Friday night, when the Giants head to Dodger Stadium to start a three-game series.

 The last-place Giants, on the other hand, are playing for nothing more at this point than to spoil things for their upcoming opponents, and they would love nothing more than to set the Dodgers back in their quest to not only clinch the division but to also stake their claim to the best record in the majors.

 The 60-93 Giants will send Jeff Samardzija (9-14, 4.42 ERA) to the mound against Dodgers lefty Rich Hill (10-8, 3.60 ERA) for Friday’s opener.

 After a miserable start to the year, Samardzija had a stretch between Jul. 26 and Aug. 28 that saw him five of six decisions. However, he has lost his last two starts but had a solid outing in his last start, last Friday in a losing effort against Arizona that saw him surrender three runs on six hits. He struck out seven hitters and did not walk anyone.

 Hill, meanwhile, has lost four of his last five starts, but he seemed to get things back together in his most recent outing, surrendering only a run on one hit while walking two and striking out seven more over five strong innings against the Washington Nationals.