When the Dodgers lost 11 straight and 16 of 17 in the late stages of the season, their best record in baseball was in jeopardy and, along with it because of a rule change, the home-field advantage for the World Series. They held on for a three-game edge over the Astros, and if the Dodgers can win the next two games at home and pull off their first World Series title in 29 years, that home-field advantage just might prove to be the difference.