LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers opened their season in South Korea ensnared with a gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, spent the summer rocked by injuries that included every member of their starting rotation, but there they were Sunday partying into the night as the stadium speakers blared “I Love LA.’
The Dodgers, for the fourth time in eight years, are going back to the World Series, taking the National League pennant by routing the New York Mets, 10-5, at Dodger Stadium to win the NLCS – 4 games to 2.
They will face the New York Yankees in the World Series, bringing Major League Baseball its dream LA-NY matchup, beginning Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
“It’s been a fun ride,’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s a great focus with our guys, a hunger, and a real good compete and fight.
“Personally, I am just fortunate, I have a lot of great people around me, most importantly the players. But I’m just very grateful to be here. I really am.
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“You have to enjoy these moments. I can’t be more proud of our guys.’
The sellout crowd expressed its own gratitude, staying in their seats to cherish the celebration instead of leaving early to beat the traffic.
“Just to be able to do it in front of our home crowd,’ Dodgers infielder Enrique Hernandez said, “is everything. They come in, they show up for us year in, year out on a daily basis, we lead baseball in attendance yearly.
“I can say that our fan base travels as good as any fan base in all of baseball. Anywhere we go, there’s a huge section of blue in the stands. And to be able to do it at home kind of means everything to us because we get to celebrate with them.’
The Dodgers’ Holy Grail is that World Series parade.
They won the World Series in 2020, but that was the COVID year, winning the title at a neutral site in Arlington, Texas. Instead of spraying champagne, they were handing out masks.
There was no parade.
They haven’t had a parade since 1988 when they stunned the Mets in the NLCS, and shocked the Oakland A’s in the World Series.
Now, they are four victories away.
The Dodgers will privately tell you that once they got past the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series, they figured they’d make it to the World Series. Their biggest road bump in the regular season was getting the news in mid-September that starter Tyler Glasnow was out for the year, leaving them to wonder how they’d piecemeal their starting rotation in October.
“Everybody was panicking because we got a lot of injuries,’ Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez said. “We lost a lot of pitchers. It was the one time that we felt like we were down as a team.’
Roberts, who calls few meetings, gathered everyone together, and delivered a message that continued to resonate through the regular season, the Division Series and NLCS, and now the World Series.
“The message basically was I can’t believe more in them than they believe in each other. They’ve got to believe in themselves, right? And I just felt we have enough talent in the room to do that.
“I just kind of wanted to bring that to light.’
The Dodgers took the advice, took off, and there’s been no looking back.
“The one meeting changed everything,’ Teoscar Hernandez said. “We realized that we have the potential, that we have the players, that we’re still the Dodgers. We can do special things with the people we have healthy.’
It also helps, of course, when you make shrewd trades at the deadline, and acquire injured super utility player Tommy Edman from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Edman, not only became the Dodgers starting shortstop and cleanup hitter this series, but became their most valuable player – and the NLCS MVP. He drove in a franchise-record 11 runs this series, including a two-run double in the first inning and two-run homer in the third.
Certainly, this will be remembered as a rather funky series with every game decided by four or more runs, with Sunday being the only game with a lead change.
The Dodgers used seven different relief pitchers to seal their World Series berth. It wasn’t always pretty with Michael Kopech pitching an ugly first inning. He walked two batters, threw a wild pitch and was fortunate to leave the first inning down only 1-0.
The Dodgers, who produced just two hits off Mets starter Sean Manaea in Game 2, beat him into submission this night. He lasted just two innings, giving up six hits and five earned runs in his shortest outing since April 2023, when he was with the San Francisco Giants.
“That was our first time seeing him with his new arm angle,’ Enrique Hernandez said. “I feel like that day, we were trying to score a lot of runs with just one swing instead of doing the same thing we’ve done throughout this postseason – which is do your part and pass the baton and keep the line moving.’
That’s exactly what the Dodgers did, with four of their first six batters reaching base, and by the end of the night, every player but rookie Andy Pages reached base. They had five different batters score at least one run.
Now, they’re heading to the World Series with just three healthy starting pitchers – Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler – and a hobbled All-Star first baseman in Freddie Freeman, who didn’t start for the second game this series.
“I don’t like excuses,’ Roberts said. “I don’t like to hear them. There’s just a lot of unforeseen things that can happen in a long baseball season, and we have a lot of good players.
“But it’s not really what I think, it’s what they believe. And they believe that they are the best.’
Here’s how Sunday’s game unfolded:
Dodgers add three runs, take 10-4 lead into ninth
The Dodgers can feel the World Series
Los Angeles added three more runs to their lead to make it a commanding 10-4 ballgame headed into the ninth inning. Chris Taylor and Shohei Ohtani started the inning getting on base, and Mookie Betts hit a double to bring in a run. In the next at-bat, Teoscar Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in Ohtani to widen the lead.
Tommy Edman reached on a fielder’s choice after Betts was thrown out at home and Max Muncy drew a walk. After that, Kiké Hernández hit a single through the right side of the field to bring a run in.
Dodgers three outs away from World Series
LOS ANGELES — Blake Treinen came in and shut it down.
The Dodgers reliever struck out the side in the eighth inning, putting down the heart of the Mets lineup in Brandon Nimmo, Mark Vientos and Pete Alonso. Now, the Dodgers are three outs away from heading to the World Series.
Mets get a run back in seventh
LOS ANGELES — The Mets aren’t done yet, with Francisco Alvarez adding a run to make it a 7-4 game.
Tyrone Taylor and Jeff McNeil hit back-to-back singles, advancing Taylor to third. Alvarez hit a fly ball to right field to Mookie Betts, a sacrifice fly that was plenty deep enough for Taylor to score.
Shohei Ohtani drives in run: Dodgers up 7-3
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani continues to be dominant with runners in scoring position.
After falling in an 0-2 count, the Dodgers slugger worked a full count off Ryne Stanek and hit a ball to center field that Tyrone Taylor couldn’t reach for. The ball bounced off his glove and Will Smith went from second to home to make it a 7-3 game.
Mets leave bases loaded again
LOS ANGELES — Not hitting with runners in scoring position is starting to hurt the Mets, leaving the bases loaded yet again.
Francisco Alvarez led the sixth inning off with a single and after two outs, Mark Vientos and Pete Alonso drew walks off Evan Phillips. It was left to Jesse Winker, but he hit a weak fly ball to shallow left field that was caught by Teoscar Hernandez to end the inning without any damage to the scoreboard.
New York is now 1-for-8 with RISP and have left 11 runners on base.
Mets trim lead with Mark Vientos homer
LOS ANGELES – Mark Vientos’ hot October continues and he keeps the Mets alive in Game 6 with a home run.
With Francisco Alvarez on base, Vientos hit a slider off Ryan Brasier 401 feet to center field, just over the wall for the two-run blast to make it 6-3. It’s the fifth home run for Vientos this postseason.
Will Smith two-run homer makes it 6-1
The Dodgers are hot.
Will Smith hit his team’s second two-run home run of the inning, this one off Phil Maton with two outs, sending the Dodger Stadium crowd into a frenzy and the Dodgers into the fourth with a 6-1 lead.
Tommy Edman stays hot, hits two-run home run: LA leads 4-1
LOS ANGELES — Tommy Edman is making a case for NLCS MVP.
He already had a two-run double in the first inning, and in the third with Teoscar Hernandez on base, he took a Sean Manaea fastball 406 feet to left-center field to make it a 4-1 game.
Edman now has a whopping 11 RBI this series, tying a Dodgers postseason record.
Manaea would walk Max Muncy the following at-bat, and that will end his night.
Mets leave bases loaded, still down 2-1
LOS ANGELES — It’s only been three innings but the Mets have left plenty of base runners stranded.
New York was able to load the bases in the third inning with Jeff McNeil up to bat, but Anthony Banda got him to swing on a slider in the dirt to end the threat. So far, the Mets are 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and have left seven on base.
Tommy Edman’s two-run double gives Dodgers 2-1 lead
The Mets’ lead didn’t last long, thanks to a two-run RBI from one of Los Angeles’ hottest hitters in Tommy Edman.
Shohei Ohtani hit a single and Teoscar Hernandez just missed a home run two batter later, setting up Edman with runners at the corners. He fouled off three pitches from Sean Manaea, and on the sixth one, hit a liner to the left field corner, allowing both runners to score to make it 2-1.
Surprisingly, this is the first lead change of the series.
Mets score on first-inning error
LOS ANGELES — New York is on the board in the first inning, getting to Dodgers pitcher Michael Kopech.
After Francisco Lindor walked on four pitches, a wild pitch moved him to second and a groundout by Brandon Nimmo got him to third. With two outs, Pete Alonso hit a flare in the infield and second baseman Chris Taylor couldn’t get an accurate throw to first, allowing Lindor to score and make it 1 -0. Taylor was charged with error on the play.
Mets lineup today: NLCS Game 6
Francisco Lindor (S) SS
Brandon Nimmo (L) LF
Mark Vientos (R) 3B
Pete Alonso (R) 1B
Jesse Winker (L) DH
Starling Marte (R) RF
Tyrone Taylor (R) CF
Jeff McNeil (L) 2B
Francisco Alvarez (R) C
Dodgers lineup for NLCS Game 6
Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
Mookie Betts (R) RF
Teoscar Hernández (R) LF
Tommy Edman (S) SS
Max Muncy (L) 1B
Enrique Hernández (R) 3B
Andy Pages (R) CF
Will Smith (R) C
Chris Taylor (R) 2B
Michael Kopech starts for Dodgers
Ryan Brasier had started the Dodgers’ first two bullpen games of the postseason, but Dave Roberts is going with Michael Kopech to begin Game 6. Kopech has been arguably the Dodgers’ best reliever since coming over from the White Sox at the trade deadline and is yet to give up a run in the 2024 postseason.
‘I think we just all felt that it’s a part of a lineup that we like Michael,’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained before the game. ‘He’s started games before. And just feel that it’s the best chance to put up a zero in the first inning and then move forward.’
Freddie Freeman injury: Dodgers 1B out of Game 6 lineup
‘He just kind of ultimately he just felt, we felt, that giving him another day is best for him,’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said pregame Sunay. ‘Potentially having him late for an at-bat but the defense – he took batting practice yesterday. Felt fine. But just doesn’t feel like himself. So we just felt that potentially another day would help.”
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