NEW YORK (AP) — The devastating duo of Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts at the top of the offensive order. Not swinging at anything outside the strike zone. And a bullpen that keeps putting up zeros. That’s the formula that has the Los Angeles Dodgers on the brink of the 22nd World Series in the franchise’s history and the fourth in the last eight years.
Ohtani opened the game with a home run and scored four times, Betts also hit a home run and drove in four runs, and the Dodgers crushed the New York Mets for the second consecutive night on Thursday, this time by a score of 10-2, to take a 3-1 lead in the National League Championship Series.
"I feel grateful to be in this moment, to be able to be part of the playoffs experience," said Ohtani, the Japanese star who had to wait until his seventh year in the majors to play in his first postseason. "I just hope to continue like this tomorrow."
On Thursday, the Ohtani-Betts combination went 7-5, with three walks, seven runs scored, and five RBIs.
"It's a matter of enjoying the emotions of the moment," Betts summarized. "I have tried to stay calm amidst everything. At a time like this, that doesn't work, you have to get on the rollercoaster and enjoy the ride."
In a ruthless offensive display by the Dodgers, Max Muncy made history by becoming the first player to reach base in 12 consecutive appearances during the same postseason.
For this Friday in the fifth duel, the Dodgers have assigned Jack Flaherty to start and lead them to the World Series. The Mets will assign the survival responsibility to left-hander David Peterson.
How was Ohtani's game against the Mets?
Ohtani opened the game with a home run against José Quintana. The Japanese star let a first bad pitch go by and then crushed a sinker that hung over the middle of the plate, sending the ball 422 feet into the Mets' bullpen in right-center field, for his third home run of the postseason.
This home run gave Ohtani homers in consecutive swings, as his three-run shot in the eighth inning was the exclamation point in the Dodgers' 8-0 victory the previous night.
The favorite to win the Most Valuable Player award in the National League went hitless in 22 postseason at-bats when there was no one on base.
"It's not just Ohtani, you have to neutralize everyone else," said Carlos Mendoza, the Venezuelan manager of the Mets. "When he goes up for his first at-bat of the game and hits that kind of shot, of course it's a good feeling for them. We knew that wasn't going to defeat us, but we couldn't put a stop to them."
Muncy hit a single and received three walks in his first four at-bats. His streak ended when he struck out against Danny Young in the eighth.
Quintana had not allowed a home run in his previous eight starts, dating back to August 20th. The Colombian left-hander did not make it through the fourth inning. The New York pitchers struggled by issuing nine walks to bring their total to 31 in the series, a record-breaking number in a span of four postseason games.
After Ohtani's home run in the first inning, the Mets responded with a solo home run by Mark Vientos against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Unexpectedly batting fourth, Tommy Edman restored the lead for the Dodgers with a run-scoring double against Quintana with two outs in the third. Puerto Rican Kiké Hernández followed with a run-scoring single for the 3-1 score.
Betts led the rout by hitting a two-run double off Venezuelan reliever José Buttó in the fourth, and then connecting for a two-run home run against Phil Maton in the sixth.
Both of Betts' hits came after walks to Ohtani.
"I'm happy that he's performing so well when I'm on base," Ohtani said about Betts. "He's on fire. My job at that moment is to make sure to score with everything Mookie hits."
Evan Phillips was credited with the victory after covering an inning and a third of relief without allowing any runs after replacing Yamamoto.
Down 7-2, the Mets had a chance to tighten the game when they loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning. But Phillips got two outs and Blake Treinen retired pinch-hitter Jesse Winker with a fly ball to the warning track in right field.
Eager to reach their first World Series since 2015 and win the title for the first time since 1986, New York has been outscored 30-9 by the Dodgers in this series.
The Angels reversed a 3-1 deficit in the 2020 Championship Series and ended up being crowned in the World Series. The Mets believe that nothing is impossible.
"We have to go all out with everything we have. This is not over," warned Francisco Lindor, the Puerto Rican shortstop for the Mets. "The first thing is to focus on one game, tomorrow's."