Los Angeles Dodgers advance to World Series for fourth time in seven years

The Los Angeles Dodgers advanced to the World Series after defeating the New York Mets in the National League Championship series in six games.

The Dodgers won 10-5 in Game 6 to move to the final round of the postseason.

Los Angeles will now appear in its fourth World Series since 2017. The Dodgers are 1-2 in their three most recent appearances. They lost in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, and won in 2020 during the pandemic-shortened season.

The Dodgers’ first three wins in the NLCS were dominant both on the mound and in the batter’s box. Los Angeles won Games 1, 3 and 4 by a combined score of 27-2.

The offense was especially great in Game 6.

The Dodgers fell behind 1-0 after the first inning before scoring the game’s next six runs. Los Angeles hit two two-run home runs in the bottom of the third, courtesy of Tommy Edman and Will Smith.

Edman also had a two-run double in the first.

Insurance runs came in the game’s later innings. Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI single in the sixth, with three more runs coming in the eighth inning via a Teoscar Hernández sacrifice fly, a Mookie Betts double and an Enrique Hernández single.

The Dodgers’ 46 runs against the Mets is the fourth-most ever in a single playoff series, per MLB’s Sarah Langs.

After losing in the NLCS in 2021, Los Angeles had struggled in the postseason before this fall. The Dodgers lost in the Divisional Series two years in a row — winning only one game across two postseasons — prior to this October.

Los Angeles also got some revenge during this trip to the World Series, knocking out its NL West rival the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, who did the same to the Dodgers in 2022.

This will be the first World Series appearance for the 30-year-old Ohtani, who made history this season as the first person ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases. Ohtani won two American League MVPs while playing for the Los Angeles Angels from 2018-23, but never played for a team that finished above .500 until he joined the Dodgers.

The Mets, who have the highest payroll in MLB at more than $305 million, have not made the World Series since 2015.

The Dodgers will face their cross-country rival the New York Yankees in the World Series, their MLB-record 12th matchup in the Fall Classic. The Yankees have won eight of the previous 11 meetings.

The World Series begins Friday.