What pennant race?

A feature in today's Times on Dodgers co-owner Jamie McCourt opens with her astonishment that L.A. fans head out early for the parking lots even with the Dodgers fighting to make the playoffs.

"They really are leaving," murmurs Jamie McCourt, looking up from the owner's box at the stands of Dodger Stadium. It's the top of the eighth and the San Diego Padres are leading by two.

In the next seat over, her husband, Frank, has entered a cone of tense silence, broken only by the occasional hoarse shout of encouragement to whatever player is within earshot. The division race is nearing the end and the crowd is big for a Monday, loud, opinionated, clearly pumped for its still-in-first team. But it's the eighth inning now and the Padres' two-run lead seems to be holding.

"There they go," Jamie McCourt says watching people trudge up the steps and disappear before turning her attention back to the game. "It's so funny. I still can't get used to it."

Forget it, Jamie. It's L.A. I'm convinced that the people who will miss the game to get a few minutes beat on the traffic correlate highly with the people who show up in the third inning, but I can't prove it. Anyway, the freeway flyers missed a stunning finish last night. The Dodgers tied it in the 8th and won it in the 9th. The race is far from over — the website Dodgerblues.com ("celebrating the futility, disappointment, and humor of the Los Angeles Dodgers") advises its readers today, "Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on" — and the team doesn't dominate anybody. But they are eking out wins and now lead the Giants by three with six games to play.