8 months ago
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani carried the injury-riddled Los Angeles Dodgers to baseball's champion grounds during the regular season. Tommy Edman joined the squad successful precocious July and helped them scope the World Series.
It's been that benignant of twelvemonth for the big-spending Dodgers. When Ohtani isn't astonishing with his powerfulness astatine the sheet and prowess connected the basepaths, idiosyncratic other is stepping up.
Edman and Will Smith homered to nonstop Ohtani into the World Series for the archetypal time, and the Dodgers eliminated the New York Mets with a 10-5 triumph successful Game 6 of the NL Championship Series connected Sunday night. Los Angeles opens the World Series against the New York Yankees connected Friday.
“I truly consciousness similar we yet arrived, I yet arrived astatine this stage,” Ohtani said done a translator. “A batch of the games we played were truly pugnacious and hard to win, and it was genuinely a squad effort to get here.”
The Dodgers clinched their grounds 25th NL pennant, their 4th successful 8 years and archetypal won astatine location since beating the Mets implicit 7 games successful 1988. They moved connected to their 22nd World Series — 13th successful Los Angeles — and archetypal since 2020, erstwhile they bushed Tampa Bay during the pandemic-delayed season.
“Every twelvemonth I get to outpouring grooming and I wonderment however we’re going to marque a shot squad acceptable due to the fact that we person truthful galore talented players,” reliever Evan Phillips said. “I wouldn’t accidental we planned for injuries but we planned to person aggregate guys lend passim the year.”
Next up for Ohtani and Co. is Aaron Judge and the Yankees, backmost successful the World Series for the 41st clip and archetypal successful 15 years. The matchup, which opens astatine Dodger Stadium, features the apical 2 home-run hitters successful Judge (58) and Ohtani (54).
“It’s benignant of what the radical wanted, what we each wanted,” Dodgers prima Mookie Betts said. “It’s going to beryllium a conflict of 2 bully teams, a batch of agelong flights crossed the country.”
It’ll beryllium the 12th clip the franchises conscionable successful the World Series and the archetypal successful 43 years. The Yankees person beaten the Dodgers 8 times, portion the Dodgers’ 3 championships against the Bronx Bombers came successful 1955, 1963 and 1981.
“It’s the spot that I’ve dreamt of playing each my life,” Ohtani said, “and to beryllium capable to yet travel to this signifier and beryllium capable to play and hopefully triumph it is my adjacent goal.”
Playing his archetypal play with the Dodgers aft agreeing to a grounds $700 million, 10-year declaration arsenic a escaped agent, Ohtani had 2 hits and scored 2 runs successful Game 6. He deed .364 with 2 homers and six RBIs successful the NLCS.
“The extremity was to get to this far,” Ohtani said. “And I besides pictured myself getting this acold with the declaration that I’ve signed.”
Ohtani spent his archetypal six MLB seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, who ne'er had a winning grounds oregon reached the playoffs during his tenure.
“We wouldn’t beryllium present without him,” Dodgers 3rd baseman Max Muncy said. “We went done a batch of injuries and determination was a bully agelong during the regular play wherever helium singlehandedly carried us.”
The Dodgers, who were eliminated successful the Division Series the erstwhile 2 years, spent a combined $1 cardinal past wintertime to motion Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to lucrative semipermanent contracts successful hopes of winning the franchise’s eighth World Series title.
Rookie Ben Casparius got 4 outs for the triumph and Blake Treinen the prevention successful his archetypal two-inning outing since the 2021 NLCS.
Los Angeles trailed aft Pete Alonso's run-scoring azygous against starter Michael Kopech.
Edman gave the Dodgers the pb for bully with a two-run treble successful the bottommost fractional disconnected Sean Manaea that drove successful Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández, who some singled. Hernández snapped an 0-for-18 skid.
Edman drove successful the Dodgers' archetypal 4 runs and his 11 RBIs successful the NLCS tied a franchise grounds acceptable by Corey Seager successful 2020 against Atlanta. Edman, who won the NLCS MVP award, joined the Dodgers astatine the July commercialized deadline from St. Louis.
“I deliberation the communal taxable for this play has been a batch of people, antithetic guys person been stepping up implicit the people of the season,” Ohtani said.
Edman sent a 406-foot changeable to left-center for a two-run homer successful a four-run 3rd that included Smith’s 416-foot thrust to halfway disconnected Phil Maton that extended the pb to 6-1.
“I ne'er imagined erstwhile we acquired him, he’d beryllium hitting 4th successful a postseason game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Edman. “But I spot him. The guys spot him. He’s made immense antiaircraft plays for america and had immense hits.”
Vientos deed his 5th postseason homer, a two-run thrust successful the 4th Ryan Brasier that chopped the shortage to 6-3 successful the fourth.
The Dodgers, whose starting pitching has been decimated by injuries, utilized 7 pitchers successful finishing disconnected the Mets, whose $332 cardinal payroll was the biggest successful baseball.
New York doubly stranded the bases loaded, erstwhile Anthony Banda struck retired Jeff McNeil successful the 3rd and erstwhile Jesse Winker flied retired against Phillips successful the sixth.
Los Angeles outscored New York 40-26 successful the six games. The Mets came wrong 2 wins of reaching the World Series aft overcoming a 22-33 commencement and earning the NL’s past chaotic card.
“This should beryllium our expectations moving guardant each year, we should beryllium playing games heavy into October,” archetypal year-manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Manaea lasted conscionable 2 innings, giving up 5 runs and six hits. Alonso had 2 hits and drove successful a tally successful what could person been his last crippled for the Mets. The archetypal baseman is eligible for escaped bureau aft the World Series.
“I emotion this team. I emotion this organization. This fanbase has treated not conscionable myself, but my household so, truthful well,” Alonso said.
The sellout assemblage of 52,674 included Tom Hanks, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Magic Johnson, Rob Lowe, Josh Groban, Jenny McCarthy and Vanessa Bryant.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: 1B Freddie Freeman sat retired for the 3rd clip successful the postseason due to the fact that of his sprained close ankle. He besides missed Game 4 of the NLCS and Game 4 of the NLDS.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
