Dodgers double up Mets 10-5 to advance to World Series

                       Los Angeles Dodgers #25 Tommy Edman at bat. Courtesy photo by Mark Hammond/BNS

 LOS ANGELES, CA – New York, New York. It’s not just a song, it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers path to the championship after sending the New York Mets back to Queens with a 10-5 win taking the NLCS in Game Six at Dodger Stadium tonight. All that stands between Los Angeles and their second title in four years is the Mets big brother, the New York Yankees.

Ben Casparius (1-0) picked up the win for the Dodgers, striking out one without allowing a run in his one-and-a-third innings. He took over for Michael Kopech who started tonight’s bullpen game on the mound. Sean Manaea (2-1) took his first loss of the postseason and was pulled after giving up five earned runs in the opening two innings turning what was supposed to be a five-to-six-inning game for one of their best pitchers, into a matchup between bullpens.

Offensively, it wasn’t any of the Dodger’s typical heavy hitters; Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, or Teoscar Hernandez, the heart of the Dodgers order, that powered them tonight. It was Tommy Edman who only played 37 games for the Boys in Blue this season, batting a mediocre .237 in the regular season before heating up against the Mets this series. The centerfielder had two hits and four RBI’s including blasting a home run to take the NLCS MVP honors.

“I’d never hit clean up before this year,” said Edman. “It was weird for sure, but it’s cool because I got a lot of opportunities to hit with guys on base. It felt good to come through.”

Kopech was rattled to start the game walking Mets leadoff batter Francisco Lindor. On the very next pitch, he threw a wild ball over the head of his catcher, Will Smith, which glanced off of the backstop, allowing Lindor to steal second base. A few pitches later while facing off against Mark Vientos, a Kopech ball went high again but the All-Star Smith was able to reel it in. After Vientos struck out swinging, power-hitting Pete Alonso stepped to the plate.

The two-time Home Run Derby champ induced another barely catchable ball above the strike zone from Kopech. Alonso then blooped a shallow infield hit to second base that should have been the final out of the inning, but it was too soft for Chris Taylor to handle cleanly. A wild throw just outside the reach of Max Muncy ended up along the Mets dugout as Alonso advanced stretching his single into second base. Lindor scored easily as New York struck first, 1-0.

Roberts had the pen warming up, just in case, but after a mound visit, Kopech settled down and got the final out.

The Dodgers had not won a game this series that they were down, losing the only two games they trailed in. However, this is one of the 700 million reasons the team brought in Ohtani this year.

Ohtani stepped to the plate and jump-started the Dodgers offense with a grounder up the middle for a lead-off single. Two batters later Hernandez hit a deep ball, which he thought was a home run as he slowly trotted out of the box. However, the wind kept it in the ballpark as it bounced off the outfield wall. What should’ve been a double was turned into a single with his lackadaisical effort.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, Edman hit a long drive to the left field corner scoring two, taking the lead, 2-1. It was the first lead change of the series where momentum has typically gone to the first team to strike.

Manaea then proceeded to load the bases leading to an extended mound visit by manager Carlos Mendoza and all of the Met infielders.

Andy Pages stepped up to the plate with the bases full and a chance to bust the game wide open but ended up fouling out against the netting. Manaea escaped what could’ve been a complete disaster in the inning, but dished out 33 pitches in the first frame shortening his innings expectancy.

In the third inning, Anthony Banda navigated some rocky waters early for the Dodgers, inheriting a runner on first with one out. He walked a batter and then hit the next to load the bases. Fortunately, Banda was able to strike out his final Mets hitter with a wicked 87-mph slider that danced across the plate.

By the middle of the third inning, both teams were into their bullpen with Manaea leaving after giving up a lead-off single to Hernandez to start the inning. Edman followed launching a homer into the left field stands giving the Dodgers a 4-1 lead.

After walking Muncy, Phil Maton replaced Manaea for the Mets. Maton got consecutive Dodger batters to fly out before Smith stepped up and belted a 438-foot blast deep into the center field pavilion seats. Smith’s first home run of the postseason came at the perfect time blowing the game wide open, 6-1. He was batting .100 in the playoffs entering the game and had slid down to eighth in the batting order due to his postseason slump.

“It’s awesome, we worked all year to be in this moment,” said Smith. “All 13 hitters and 13 pitchers, it was a team effort. Anyone on this team can step up.”

In the fourth inning after getting the first two outs Banda was pulled in favor of Ryan Braiser. Mark Vientos took the very next pitch 400 feet with the two-run blast cutting the lead in half, 6-3.

On the very next pitch after that, Braiser got the hitter to ground out ending the inning. It was a costly two-pitch inning for Braiser who allowed two runs to score.

Evan Phillips in the fifth inning ran into trouble himself, eventually loading the bases. With the tying run at first base, Phillips was able to induce a two-out pop fly to get out of the jam.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ohtani stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second base with no outs. Faced with a full count the Japanese slugger was able to bloop an unexpected single into center field, just a little too shallow for Luis Severino who had been playing deep. Severino charged at it with a sliding attempt at a catch but he was a split-second too late with the ball bouncing off his glove.

The score gave the Dodgers a 7-3 lead, tying their seven runs per game average this series. It was also Ohtani’s 18th hit in 22 at-bats with runners on base for Ohtani who’s batting an unfathomable .818 in those situations.

The Dodgers manufactured three more runs in the eighth inning taking the game 10-5.

Los Angeles will now shift their focus to a star-studded World Series against the other New York Yankees. This will be their 12th time facing each other in the World Series, the most between two teams.

“As a baseball fan, this is what you want, right?” questioned Muncy. “You got Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman. You got Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Juan Soto. You’re talking about the game's biggest stars on the absolute biggest stage. As a fan, this is what you want!”

This a remarkable run for a team that has battled a mountain of injuries all season. It really speaks to Roberts' managerial skill, both managing the bullpen and getting superstar players and superstar egos to all buy-in in a total team effort.

“This is why I signed with the Dodgers,” said Betts. “The first thing I said is I want to win championships with an ‘s’ on the end and those guys really said ‘Okay we’re in’ and each year they bring talent in and they want to win as much as I do.”

“It feels great, amazing!” exclaimed Hernandez about deciding the join the Dodgers this season. “The best decision that I made in my career was to come here because this team wins and I like to win.”

And win this team did. Through the sheer resilience of this team, which was one loss away from elimination, down 2-1 to the San Diego Padres facing back-to-back elimination games.

Roberts made changes, adapting looking at the long-term picture this series, and prioritizing a fresh bullpen over chasing wins in games they went down early. In the end, the Dodgers are returning to the World Series for the fourth time in Roberts' tenure.

“It’s about you guys, it doesn’t matter who gets the credit,” said a passionate Roberts. “Everybody stepped up, ready when called upon. I’ve never been around a group of guys who I love or care about more. Four more wins. Work to be done.”

The Dodgers will look to finish that work beginning Friday in Game One of the World Series when they host the Yankees at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers took only faced the Yankees three times this season winning the season series 2-1.