Los Angeles (83-75) could clinch the division title outright before taking the field Thursday if Arizona loses at St. Louis earlier in the day. If not, a fifth consecutive victory over San Diego (61-97) would secure the club's first NL West title since 2004.

"If we get a chance to celebrate, we'll do it. We still have a little work to do," first-year Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "It's been a bumpy road, no question. The players have handled what they've had to handle."

In Wednesday's 12-4 rout of the Padres, Nomar Garciaparra went 2-for-3 and homered for the second straight game while Manny Ramirez hit his 17th for the Dodgers, who have won 18 of their last 23 games and scored 32 runs in their last four contests.

The Dodgers - a major league-best 16-5 in September - were 65-70 and trailed the Diamondbacks by 4 1/2 games before beginning their turnaround Aug. 30 in Arizona.

"It feels great," said Ramirez, batting .398 with 53 RBIs in 50 games since being traded from Boston. "We still have to come and get the win and we are going against one of the best pitchers in the league. We just have to come back and battle and play hard."

Though the Dodgers have an eye toward the playoffs, they are in for a challenge against Peavy (9-11, 2.77 ERA), who is 12-1 with a 2.21 ERA in 21 starts versus the Dodgers and hasn't lost to them since 2003.

"I'm excited to pitch in this series. I get to pitch in a meaningful series," the 2007 Cy Young Award winner told the Padres' official Web site.

Peavy, 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA against Los Angeles in 2008, missed his scheduled start Friday to be with his wife after the premature birth of their third son. The right-hander has dropped his last three decisions overall after allowing five runs and 11 hits in eight innings of a 5-2 loss to San Francisco on Sept. 12.

Former Padre Greg Maddux (7-13, 4.31) is scheduled to start for Los Angeles after he allowed seven runs and nine hits in five innings of a 7-1 loss to San Francisco on Friday.

"They got me," said Maddux, who is 1-5 over his last seven starts - six of which have come since being traded from San Diego back to Los Angeles on Aug. 19. "I didn't help us stay in the game."

The 42-year-old right-hander is 25-16 with a 3.06 ERA in 46 career starts versus the Padres and 1-0 with a 4.63 ERA in two against them this month.

Brian Giles had two hits with an RBI on Wednesday for the Padres, who are in danger of losing 100 games for the first time since going 61-101 in 1993. Giles is batting .368 (14-for-38) against Maddux.