A jubilant Shohei Ohtani was covered in champagne by his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates after reaching his first World Series on Sunday night.
Tommy Edman and Will Smith homered as the Dodgers eliminated the New York Mets with a 10-5 victory in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series and set up a delightful MLB showpiece against another franchise. the Big Apple like the Yankees.
Los Angeles achieved its record 25th in the National League and its first at home since 1988, when it beat the Mets in seven games. They moved on to their 22nd World Series, their 13th in Los Angeles, and their first since 2020, when they beat Tampa Bay during the pandemic-delayed season.
Ohtani, who joined the team on a record 10-year, $700 million contract late last year, has made an instant impact since arriving at Dodger Stadium and will now go up against the likes of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto in the world. Series.
However, after winning the National League Championship, the two-way phenom made sure to drunkenly toast the victory with his teammates in the locker room.
Shohei Ohtani covered in champagne after helping Dodgers reach World Series
Los Angeles beat the New York Mets to win the National League Championship on Sunday night.
“It’s the place I’ve dreamed of playing my whole life,” Ohtani said through a translator, “and to finally be able to get to this stage and be able to play and hopefully win is my next goal.”
Ohtani had two hits and scored two runs in Game 6. He hit .364 with two home runs and six RBIs in the National League Championship Series.
Not bad for his first postseason after spending six years with the Los Angeles Angels, who never had a winning record or made the playoffs during his tenure.
Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen struck out Brandon Nimmo, Mark Vientos and Pete Alonso in the eighth inning in his first two-inning outing since the 2021 National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers briefly trailed 1-0 before cleanup hitter Edman made a breakthrough.
He drove in the Dodgers’ first four runs and his 11 RBIs in the National League Championship Series tied a franchise record set by Corey Seager in 2020 against Atlanta. Edman, the National League Championship Series MVP winner, joined the Dodgers at the July trade deadline from St. Louis.
The Dodgers eliminated the Mets in their second attempt of the series. They outscored New York 40-26 in the six games. Neither game was close, and the Dodgers recorded two shutouts.
The Mets were two wins away from reaching the World Series after a 22-33 start.
Ohtani hit .364 with two home runs and six RBIs in the National League Championship Series after two hits and two runs in Game 6.
It marks a sensational first season for him in Los Angeles after signing a record $700 million contract.
Ohtani made sure to drunkenly toast the victory with his teammates in the locker room.
He also returned the favor by popping and spraying some of his own champagne bottles.
The Dodgers led 2-1 in the first on Edman’s double into the left field corner off Sean Manaea that scored Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández, who singled. Hernández snapped an 0-for-18 streak in the National League Championship Series. Manaea needed 34 pitches to overcome the first.
Facing two strikes in the third, Edman sent a 406-foot shot to left-center field for a two-run drive. With a walk to Max Muncy and two outs later, Smith hit a 416-foot home run to center field off Phil Maton, extending the lead to 6-1.
The Mets cut their deficit to 6-3 in the fourth. With two outs, Vientos hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the postseason, off Ryan Brasier. The first grand slam of Vientos’ career highlighted the Mets’ series-tying victory in Game 2 at Dodger Stadium.
New York twice failed to capitalize with the bases loaded. Trailing 6-3 in the sixth, Jesse Winker hit a fly ball against Evan Phillips to end the inning. Down one run in the third, the Mets loaded the bases against Anthony Banda only for Jeff McNeil to swing and strike out.
A clearly amped-up Michael Kopech started the bullpen game for the Dodgers in his first career playoff start. He quickly walked Francisco Lindor and then threw a wild pitch. With two outs, Alonso had a two-strike pass to second base and Lindor scored on a throwing error by second baseman Chris Taylor for a 1-0 lead.
The Dodgers, whose starting pitcher has been decimated by injuries, used seven pitchers to finish off the Mets, whose $332 million payroll was the largest in baseball.
The Dodgers will now turn their attention to the World Series against the New York Yankees
Manaea lasted just two innings, allowing five runs and six hits. The left-hander struck out two and walked two. His revamped pitching rattled the Dodgers in Game 2, when Manaea limited them to two earned runs in five innings, but they had no such problems on Sunday.
Alonso had two hits and drove in a run in what could have been his last game with the Mets. The first baseman is eligible for free agency after the World Series.
The Dodgers, who have been eliminated in the Division Series the past two years, spent a combined $1 billion last winter to sign Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to lucrative long-term contracts in hopes of winning an eighth title. of the franchise’s World Series.
Among the sellout crowd of 52,674 were Tom Hanks, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Magic Johnson, Rob Lowe, Josh Groban, Jenny McCarthy and Vanessa Bryant.