Los Angeles Dodgers set World Series with Yankees
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Juan Beltran, Contributor
- October 21, 2024
Dodgers dispatch Mets to win NL pennant
LOS ANGELES – While some of his Dodgers teammates tossed champagne and beer at him, a shirtless Enrique “Kike” Hernandez and a few teammates danced and loudly sang to the tune of Kendrick Lamar’s popular diss track “Not like us” late Sunday night.
The scene could have been any club in the City of Angels. But this one was inside the home clubhouse at Dodger Stadium, home of the 2024 National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hernandez and his teammates are right: Nobody in the NL is like the Dodgers this year. Mookie Betts, Japanese star Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers are set for Major League Baseball’s dream World Series matchup against the New York Yankees.
‘We finally arrived’
“I really feel like we finally arrived,” Ohtani said after helping the Dodgers reach the Fall Classic in his first season with the team. “I finally arrived at this stage. A lot of the games we played were really tough and hard to win. And it was truly a team effort to get here.”
Dodgers 10, New York Mets 5.
The “OMG” Mets’ magical run finally ended before a raucous, sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers won the best-of-seven NLCS 4-2.
They’re back in the World Series for the first time since winning their last title in the Covid-shortened, 60-game season in 2020. That Fall Classic was held at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
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The Dodgers will make their 22nd trip to the Fall Classic, which will start Friday at Dodger Stadium. It will be the 12th World Series between the Yankees and Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers and the first since 1981.
“It’s what you always dream about as a little kid getting to play in the World Series,” NLCS MVP Tommy Edman said. “Playing for the Dodgers against the Yankees. It’s pretty surreal.
“And I’m just excited to get to play those big games. We’re enjoying this series win tonight. Over this next week or so we’re going to start preparing against the Yankees. But it’s a dream come true, for sure.”
Dodgers win ultimate bullpen game
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pieced together the clinching game with a six-pitcher bullpen game. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza also used six relievers, but those arms came in after left-handed starter Sean Manaea had his first disappointing outing of the postseason.
The Mets took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with an unearned run. The Dodgers countered in the bottom of the first with Edman’s two-run double. Los Angeles never looked back. Edman then hit a two-run home run in the third inning to go ahead 4-1. Will Smith added a two-run homer later in the inning to take a 6-1 lead.
Francisco Alvarez’s sacrifice fly helped the Mets cut the deficit to 7-4 in the seventh inning, but the Dodgers countered with three runs in the eighth to pull away.
“Amazing,” said Teoscar Hernandez, who hit a sac fly to give the Dodgers a 9-4 lead. “I’m glad that I made that decision in my free agency to come here. I didn’t know that this was like this, but it’s been more than I expected.
“I love the fans. I love everything that is happening to me in my career right now. And I’m just having fun with the fans here in L.A.”
Juan Beltran
Contributor
Juan Beltran, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador at 5 years old, is an experienced broadcast journalist
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