Yamamoto started this one against Luis Quintana. Shohei led off the game with a shot deep to RF, LA up 1-0. Yamamoto got Lindor to leadoff the Mets half, but then Vientos unloaded on one of his pitches deep to right center. He got the next two hitters to end the inning. The Dodgers got a walk to Muncy with one out, Smith hit into a force play and Pages hit into a force play to end the inning. In the bottom of the second, Yoshi struck out the first two hitters and then gave up a single to Iglesias. Bader struck out to end the inning.
Top of the third, Taylor lined out and Ohtani walked. Betts singled to left. Teo struck out and then Edman doubled to left scoring Mookie and Ohtani. Kike singled and Muncy walked, loading the bases with 2 outs. Smith then popped out. In the bottom of the third, Alvarez and Lindor singled. Vientos struck out. Alonso walked loading the bases. Nimmo hit a grounder to Taylor who relayed to Edman for one out and on to first for what was first called a double play. Call was reversed and a run scored. 3-2. Marte grounded into a force out to end the inning.
Top of the fourth, Pages lined out and Taylor got an infield single. Ohtani walked and Betts doubled to left scoring Taylor and Ohtani. Teo flew out and Edman was called out on strikes. Bottom of the fourth Yamamoto got the Mets down in order. LA fifth, A Muncy walk was the only base runner. Bottom of the fifth, Yoshi hit Alvarez, then he struck out Lindor. Phillips replaced Yoshi. He struck out Vientos and got Alonso to ground into a force play.
Taylor flied out. Ohtani walked and Betts homered deep to left. LA 7-2. Teo walked and Edman grounded into a force play Kike struck out. Phillips loaded the bases allowing singles to Nimmo and Marte and then he walked JD Martinez. He then struck out Iglesias and got PH Jeff McNeil to fly out to short CF. Banda replaced Phillips. Winker PH for Alvarez and flied out to right.
LA seventh, Muncy, who set an MLB record of 11 straight appearances in a postseason getting on base, and Max singled, extending the streak to 12. Smith struck out and Pages was hit by a pitch. Taylor struck out. Ohtani up for the fifth time in the game. Young replaced Maton as the Mets pitcher. Ohtani grounded out to end the inning.
Mets seventh inning Lindor led off with a single against the new Dodger pitcher, Blake Treinen. Vientos hit into a force play. Alonso struck out. Nimmo singled Vientos to third and then Marte flew out to right. In the top of the eighth, Betts singled, his 4th hit of the game. Teo walked and Kiermaier ran for him. Edman then doubled down the line scoring Betts and Kiermaier. Kike singled to send Edman to third. Smith then singled scoring Edman after Muncy struck out. Pages flew out for the second out. Taylor walked loading the bases. Ohtani stuck out.
Henriquez in to pitch. He walked Martinez to start the inning. Iglesias popped out to Muncy. Taylor grounded into a force out. Taylor went to second on defensive indifference. Torrens popped out to Taylor. Betts led off the Dodger ninth against Young. Betts grounded out to second. Kiermaier, batting in Teos spot then struck out. Edman grounded out to Young to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 9th, Henriquez still pitching. Lindor struck out. Vientos singled to center. Alonso then singled to center. Nimmo hit into a force play, Muncy to Edman at second for the second out. Marte popped out to Muncy to end the game. Phillips got the win, 10-2. Quintana took the loss. LA had 12 hits and drew 9 walks. They struck out 11 times. They were 6-15 with RISP and left 10 men on base. Betts was 4-6 with 4 RBIs. Tommy Edman drove in 3 and is hitting .324 in the post season.
Dodgers in the drivers seat.
https://youtu.be/9SCzVEUlqqA
Mookie was sweet. Always smiled for the people he meets.
One more! 5 more wins.
All going according to the plan. WS, no sweat.
What’s happened to Teo?
I’m glad the Dodgers held Freeman out of the line-up. From here on out, Freddie may have to play a maximum of 10 more games, and who knows how much longer he can keep playing injured. He and the Dodgers are taking an awfully big risk with the long-term health of his severely sprained ankle and/or any other parts of his body.
The Mets appear outclassed because the Dodgers superior analytics and scouting staff have seemingly dotted every i, and crossed every t in preparing the players for this series. The Dodger pitchers have (mostly) owned the Mets ..so far.
Going up 3-1 is HUUUUGeeeeee!!!
Opens up a lot of options for the Dodgers now.
Go with Flaherty in Game 6 trying to end it right there ? Give him some extra rest for a potential Game 6`?
Personally I would go with Flaherty.
Also can decide to rest FF in Game 5 and if you still win that game he would have had almost a full week off before the WS starts.
Roberts managed the game very very well again. I din not like him taking out Yoshi in the 5th after he retired Lindor but the results say Doc made all the right moves.
So kudos to him.
With Henriquez giving 2 innings the bullpen should be in excellent shape for todays game. Everyone but Treinen , Philllipps and Henriquez should be available.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know I don’t like our best relievers going back to back games. Phillips with 1.1 innings and 34 pitches, Treinen with 1.1 innings 23 pitches. I would sit them unless a short inning, 1 or 2 outs, is needed in emergency. Ideally Flaherty goes 6 and we finish with Banda, Brasier, and Kopech. Actually I hope we finish Kiké.
Teo is hitting .188, but OPS’ing .725. Betts now OPS’ing .964, Muncy 1.117, Ohtani .895. Smith .539. Pages and Taylor .282, .384.
The Dodgers are rolling. The way my baseball coach buddy in Oklahoma put it “the game is now flowing out of the ground up through the Dodgers feet and out through their fingertips. Unselfconscious performance is beautiful indeed.” He also called Betts Mookie Mantle.
So World Series game 1 is scheduled for Friday, Oct 25, UNLESS both ALCS and NLCS finish by tomorrow.
If the Dodgers end it today, and the Yankees win today and tomorrow, then the World Series will be moved up to Tuesday, Oct 22.
For Freddie’s sake, it’d be nice to get him a full week off before Game 1.
Thank you MOOKIE…I have no problem eating some crow today. Yes, I’ve been reminding everyone here how un-clutch you are in October. I am very glad to see that last night was not one of those nights. Keep it up….we still have five more wins to have.
My favorite walk up music has become Franciso Lindor’s, the Tempatations “My Girl”. The Temptations will be doing the National Anthem before Game 5. The crowd is going to go crazy.
Charlie Blackmon’s “Your Love” by The Outfield was my favorite before I heard Lindor’s.
My favorite LAD walk up song is “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey. I also like Gavin Stone’s “Photograph” by Def Leopard.
I think there may be two or three others that I have ever heard of. I actually have Emmet Sheehan’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” by Johnny Cash on my phone.
And you just knew that Dustin May would have a Rage Against the Machine song…”Born of a Broken Man”.
Before commenting on the Dodger game, how about the Cleveland v. New York game? The last three innings were an emotional rollercoaster for both teams. I caught Judge’s HR to tie it and then Stanton’s to take the lead. I figured the Indians would be so down that the game was over at that point. So, I left the game. Uh, a dumb mistake! I didn’t know that that the Indians had tied in the ninth and won it in the tenth until it was mentioned later in the Dodger game. Wow!! One of the most memorable comebacks and wins in postseason history.
On to the Dodgers victory. Not nearly as dramatic. This team is dominating the opposition right now. Our awful starters are exceeding my expectations and giving the team 4-6 innings of sensational results. They are keeping the games close, giving the offense a chance to eventually grind down the other team’s starters, and then beating up on the Mets’ bullpen. Whereas, the San Diego relievers were a strength, the Mets’ pitching strength is with their starting pitching and not their bullpen.
The offense is showing up from different spots in the lineup each game. So, far the consistency has been with Muncy, Edman, Kiki, and now Mookie. Will and Teoscar have been very quiet so far. Teoscar help the team win in San Diego and Will has been doing an amazing job with the pitching staff. The way things have evolved, look for them to get on track soon (World Series maybe?).
The emphasis by our hitters is patience. I felt that Quintana would not be successful against the Dodgers. His strategy is to make pitches that start out as strikes to the batter. The batter swings at the apparent strike that is now outside the strike zone and misses the pitch. With the Dodgers consistent capability of not chasing pitches and forcing Quintana to throw strikes, they were able to make him throw a lot of pitches. Which lead to walks, putting balls in play, and scoring runs. Gone are the one or two innings of scoring and nothing else. A run or two throughout the game. Which is fun for the fans and the team.
Finally, Roberts is drawing inside straights game after game. Everything his gut is telling him seems to be working right now. In the past his use of the pitching staff has been questioned by me and others. I would say strongly questioned. That is not the case in this postseason so far. With the starters innings pretty much predetermined before the game it makes the starters removal a non issue. Which relievers to use and their order of use has probably been hashed out by the FO, Roberts, and the coaches. All this has to make Roberts’ decisions much less stressful. Kudos to Dave Roberts!
Bottom line is that the entire organization is contributing to this current success.
The front office, manager, coaches, and certainly the players. It’s been a blast to watch so far. Let’s hope for good health for the remaining postseason. I feel it’s the only thing that could derail this team from a World Series victory!
Carry on.
Honestly the Dodgers are just more talented. And mentally stronger. The starting pitching knows it is go time and The Mets are buckling. They are just better.
The Padres were a threat and not afraid. Until they got the lead. Then buckled.
The Dodgers have been there for years and it is obvious. But for them to do this with Will Smith and Teo disappearing and Freddie on the bench is just someone being purely outclassed. I’m really impressed with all of it.
LHP David Peterson will be the SP for NYM in Game 5. Peterson pitched 2.1 innings in NLCS Game 1. 4 hits, 1 BB, 3 runs (2 earned), 40 pitches. This was the first time Peterson was scored on in the playoffs.
“He (Jack Flaherty) gives us the best chance to win tomorrow,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters Wednesday night at Citi Field. “We’ll have our full slew of guys behind him, and there’s a sense of urgency to win this game tomorrow.”
While it would not be ideal if either Phillips or Treinen are needed, both will be available to finish off an inning, per Dave Roberts. The Dodgers want to win this in NY today.
Both teams left 12 runners on base in Game 4. The Dodgers were 6-15 RISP (.400), and NYM was 0-10. For the series, LAD is 16-48 wRISP (.333) and NYM is 4-29 (.138).
After reaching base 12 consecutive PA, Max apparently got tired of walking and swung at a pitch 3’feet outside and low for strike three.
The Dodgers have scored 30 runs in 4 games with little help from Teoscar Hernández. That will change. Maybe today against LHP Peterson. Although Teo does have 6 walks in 20 PA (.300 OBP).
The Dodgers have Shohei, Freddie, and Max as the left hand bats in the starting lineup. The Dodgers will have 2 LH bats (Lux, and Kiermaier) and 2 RH bats (CT3 and Barnes) on the bench to start the game. Peterson is not a tough overpowering LHP, and the Mets have one other LHRP (Danny Young), who is probably not available today after going 2.1 IP yesterday. I get the feeling that NYM will be looking for length from Peterson today.
NYM is replacing JDM with LH hitter Jesse Winker, and 2B Jose Iglesias with LH hitter Jeff McNeil.
I am looking for Jack Flaherty to bring the Dodgers home as the NL Pennant winner after today.
Lineups are out, Ohtani, Betts, Teo, Freeman, Edman, Kike, Muncy, Smith, Pages. Mets are pitching Peterson.
Jake Cave, Peter Lambert and Dakota Hudson all declared for free agency after passing through waivers. Rockies down to 38 on the 40 man roster.
I always enjoy reading the pre-season outlook for teams on MLBTR. The A’s have 0 dollars committed to next year’s salaries. They have only 6 or 7 arbitration eligible players, including Brent Rooker who is projected to get 5.1 million in arbitration.
One of the things that bugs me about Doc is when there’s a day off the next day, he won’t go to his good relievers early in the game when the starter is having trouble. What they can’t pitch again on one day rest? Stupid.
Teo has looked like dog crap this series. Set up for a big hit to win the game?
A true dog shit performance from Flaherty. Disappointing.
If Freddie was totally healthy, I would feel a lot better about him hitting with the bases loaded and two outs.
Wow, right now I’m back over 60 years ago where I can hear my little league coach say “3-2 count guard the plate, swing at anything close, never have a strikeout looking.”
WTF was Freddie thinking?
I guess we are in for another round of “Fire Doc” posts.
I hope in game #6 Shohei and Mookie continue to rake and we get some offense from Teo and Smith. Neither have barreled up a pitch in the NLCS. Teo is 0-19 in the NLCS and Smith is not much better.
Well game 5 summary will be simple to write. Flaherty stank.
Should have started Honeywell and made this the bullpen game. Oh well. Hindsight is 20/20.
Didn’t see a Flaherty meltdown coming.
Nothing ever comes easy for the Dodgers as Vin would say.
Please clinch on Sunday Dodgers.
I’ll bring some optimism here even though it’s not really my style. It was going to be hard to win all three in NY anyways. The Dodgers still up two games. They play better at home. The high leverage relievers have all been lights out in this series. They’ll get to Manaea. He’s not Sany Koufax
Let’s just win on Sunday and get it over with. Good thoughts.