[Ghoulish Delight]

Those may be the average numbers, but while San Diego has spent the last decade or so on the high end of that bell curve, the Dodgers spent far too much time at the bottom end of the bell curve. It is a matter of fractional percentage differences, but they matter. If you've got near 100% confidence that a 1 or 2 run lead is enough, you can alter the way you play the game offensively. You can play it safe, squeak out a run or two with sac bunts and situational hitting, increasing the number of times you get to the ninth with that 1-2 run lead. Rather than having to take more offensive risks to score bunches of runs and get a good sized lead, which more often than not fails to pan out.