2024 National League Championship Series

2024 National League Championship Series

Los Angeles Dodgers 98 - 64 in the NL	4 - 2 Series Summary	New York Mets 89 - 73 in the NL

Overview[edit]

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Dodgers: Dave Roberts | Mets: Carlos Mendoza

Dodgers

Mets

Umpires[edit]

Jeremie Rehak, Marvin Hudson, Nic Lentz, Bill Miller (crew chief), David Rackley, Jordan Baker

Mike Muchlinski was the reserve umpire for Game 1, then moved into the umpire rotation

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	New York Mets 0 Los Angeles Dodgers 9	October 13	Kodai Senga (0-1) Jack Flaherty (1-0)	8:15 pm
2	New York Mets 7 Los Angeles Dodgers 3	October 14	Sean Manaea (1-0) Ryan Brasier (0-1)	4:08 pm
3	Los Angeles Dodgers 8 New York Mets 0	October 16	Walker Buehler (0-0) Luis Severino (0-1)	8:08 pm
4	Los Angeles Dodgers 10 New York Mets 2	October 17	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (0-0) José Quintana (0-1)	8:08 pm
5	Los Angeles Dodgers 6 New York Mets 12	October 18	Jack Flaherty (1-1) David Peterson (0-0)	5:08 pm
6	New York Mets 5 Los Angeles Dodgers 10	October 20	Sean Manaea (1-1) Michael Kopech (1-0)	8:08 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
Dodgers	2	1	0	3	0	0	0	3	x	9	9	0
WP: Jack Flaherty (1-0); LP: Kodai Senga (0-1)
Home Runs: none

Attendance: 53,503

The Dodgers ran away with Game 1 as they extended their streak of innings without allowing a run to 33, matching the postseason record set by the 1966 Baltimore Orioles, in recording their third straight consecutive shutout going back to the Division Series. The previous record had been set entirely in the World Series, with the 1966 edition of the Dodgers being the victims, but while the current streak involved two separate postseason series, against two opponents, and with many more pitchers (the Orioles had only used four), it was still quite an impressive feat. Things started poorly from the outset for the Mets, as their starting pitcher, Kodai Senga, had serious control problems, leading to two runs in the 1st inning and another one in the 2nd before he was replaced by Reed Garrett.

For the Dodgers, Jack Flaherty had a great outing after a mediocre performance in his previous postseason start which had resulted in a loss. This time, he did not allow a run in seven innings of work, and only had to worry about four baserunners all evening - only two of them reaching via a base hit. He retired the first nine batters he faced before Francisco Lindor led off the 4th with a walk, and did not give up his first hit until a single by Jesse Winker in the 5th, by which time the Dodgers held a 5-0 lead. In other words, the Mets were never in the game. In contrast to Flaherty, who had pitched a full season between the Detroit Tigers and the Dodgers, Senga was making just his third start of the season. He had been injured in spring training, then suffered an unrelated leg injury in his first and only start of the regular season before being named to start Game 1 of the Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. In that start he had given up a lead-off homer to Kyle Schwarber, but had done alright after that, although he had lasted only two innings. Even in the best of circumstances, his start in this game would also be a short one. As it turned out, it was anything but the best of circumstances. Things started off well enough as Senga got countryman Shohei Ohtani to ground out to second, but the nightmare started immediately after that. Mookie Betts walked on four pitches, and while Senga managed to get a couple of strikes against Freddie Freeman, he walked him as well. He couldn't throw a strike to Teoscar Hernández either, and the bases were loaded. Will Smith hit a fly ball to center field and third base coach Dino Ebel first sent Betts home, then gave him a stop sign, so the runners stayed put. But Senga wouldn't escape the jam of his own making. Max Muncy singled to center and not only did Betts score easily but Freeman, running on a bad ankle, did so as well for a 2-0 lead. Senga then threw a wild pitch, but Kiké Hernandez grounded back to him to end the inning.

In the 2nd, Senga walked lead-off man Gavin Lux and Tommy Edman laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving him to second base. Ohtani followed with a single, and it was 3-0. That was the end for Senga, who had managed just ten strikes in his 30 pitches. Reed Garrett came in to pitch and got Betts on a line-out before Ohtani was caught stealing at second, ending a personal streak of being successful on 36 consecutive stolen base attempts. In the 3rd, David Peterson replaced Garrett with two outs and one on. The Mets got their first baserunners in the 4th, on walks to Lindor and Pete Alonso, the latter with two outs, but Starling Marte flied out to RF Betts to end the inning. The Dodgers then got to Peterson in the bottom of that inning as Kiké Hernandez led off with a single, Lux laid down the Dodgers' second sacrifice bunt of the evening, Edman singled to drive in Hernandez, and Ohtani singled as well, driving in Lux and taking second on an error by RF Marte. With two outs, Freeman singled as well, and Ohtani scored to make it 6-0. The Mets had been known for their numerous comebacks all season, extending into the postseason, but there was no getting back from this deficit.

The Mets had their best chance to score in the 5th when Winker led off with their first hit and José Iglesias followed with a single to center. However, Winker hesitated rounding second, and ended up caught between second and third base and was eventually tagged out by Muncy. Iglesias stayed stuck on first base as the next two batters made outs, and Flaherty would not allow another baserunneruntil he left. The Mets replaced Peterson with Danny Young, making his postseason debut, in the bottom of the 6th, then José Butto replaced him with one out in the 7th. In the 8th Flaherty and Freeman both came out of the game, with Daniel Hudson taking the mound and Muncy moving from third base to first. Iglesias drew a lead-off walk. Jeff McNeil, just activated from the injured list, was sent in to pinch-hit for Tyrone Taylor but he lined out before Francisco Alvarez hit a single, only New York's third hit of the game. Iglesias stopped at second however, and the next two batters made outs, so nothing came of that. Then the Dodgers put the game completely out of reach with three more runs off Butto in the bottom of the 8th, on a single by Kiké Hernandez, a throwing error by Alonso, a walk to Ohtani and a bases-clearing double by Betts. With a 9-0 lead, Dave Roberts could afford to send one of his youngsters with little experience to finish up the game, in this case Ben Casparius, who retired the final three batters in order.

Game 2 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mets	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	10	1
Dodgers	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	3	5	1
WP: Sean Manaea (1-0); LP: Ryan Brasier (0-1); SV: Edwin Diaz (1)
Home Runs: NY - Francisco Lindor (1); Mark Vientos (1); LA - Max Muncy (1)

Attendance: 52,926

The Mets tied up the series by pulling on the Dodgers the same trick they had pulled on them the night before. They built a big lead early, being ahead 6-0 after just two innings. But the script diverged from Game 1 in the middle innings as the Dodgers managed to shrink the lead to just three runs, although they could never get any closer. The Mets ended up 7-3 winners and managed to tie the series. On the mound, the Mets sent Sean Manaea, coming off a very good start in the Division Series, against "tbd", as it was clear it would be a bullpen game for Los Angeles. Ryan Brasier was given the ball as the opener, his second such assignment in this postseason, but whereas he had been perfect against the San Diego Padres, the Mets lost no time in putting an end to the Dodgers' 33-inning scoreless streak as Francisco Lindor led off the game with a homer. Brasier also walked Brandon Nimmo, but got Pete Alonso to ground into a double play. Manaea then pitched a scoreless inning.

The 2nd inning was the important one for the Mets. Young Landon Knack succeeded Brasier on the mound, and he immediately got himself in trouble by allowing a single to Starling Marte and walking Jesse Winker. José Iglesias hit a pop-up for the first out but Tyrone Taylor followed with a double to make it 2-0. Knack got Francisco Alvarez to pop up for the second out, then the Dodgers issued an intentional walk to Lindor, loading the bases. Mark Vientos was up next, and he made the Dodgers pay by hitting a ball just beyond the centerfield fence for a grand slam. The score was now 6-0, and the Dodgers had their work cut out for them. They couldn't do much against Manaea over the next few innings, and in spite of being battered around, Knack was given a second inning of work, as the Dodgers did not want to use nine pitchers in the game as they had done in San Diego in a must-win game. It was another tough inning, as the Mets loaded the bases again, but Alvarez made an out to center to end the inning without any runs scoring. Anthony Banda then took over in the 4th, and the Mets' bats quieted down. In fact, there wasn't much action until the 5th, when Max Muncy led off the inning with a homer to right field for the Dodgers' first run.

The key inning for the Dodgers was the 6th, as Manaea began to tire and they had a chance to have a big inning, thanks to some sloppy defensive play by the Mets. Mookie Betts led off with a walk and Teoscar Hernandez received a free pass as well. Freddie Freeman was up next and hit a grounder towards 2B Iglesias that looked like a potential double play ball, but Iglesias bobbled it and everyone was safe. That was it for Manaea, who was replaced by Phil Maton. He got Will Smith to pop up for the first out, then Tommy Edman hit a grounder to first which went under Alonso's glove and into right field, bringing two runners home. Maton then walked Muncy, loading the bases again, but Kiké Hernandez hit a grounder to 3B Vientos, who bobbled it but still managed to start a double play. It took all of Alonso's ballet skills to keep his foot on the bag while gloving Iglesias' errant relay, and in fact the Dodgers asked for a video review, but the two outs were confirmed and the inning was over. It was now 6-3, but the Dodgers could have easily erased New York's lead. The Mets managed to get through the 7th without damage, with Ryne Stanek taking over on the mound after one out and a walk to Shohei Ohtani. In the 8th, Edman singled with two outs and Muncy walked, which was the situation Carlos Mendoza needed to bring in his closer, Edwin Diaz. The two runners pulled off a double steal, but Kiké Hernandez hit a fly ball to right to end the threat. In the 9th, the Mets scored an insurance run against rookie Edgardo Henriquez, who was pitching his second inning, with a stolen base by Alonso which took everyone by surprise featuring prominently. Diaz thus had some maneuvering room for the bottom of the 9th, which came in handy when the first two batters, Andy Pages and Ohtani, both reached, on a single and a walk. Diaz then decided to ditch his secondary pitches and throw only fastballs, and he struck out Betts and Teoscar Hernandez in short order. He then got two strikes on Freeman while still throwing only fastballs, before finishing off with a slider which Freeman swung at and missed. The series was now tied.

Game 3 @ Citi Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	3	1	8	10	0
Mets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
WP: Michael Kopech (1-0); LP: Luis Severino (0-1)
Home Runs: LA - Kiké Hernandez (1), Shohei Ohtani (1); Max Muncy (2)

Attendance: 43,883

Game 3 looked a lot like Game 1, ending with a lopsided score in favor of the Dodgers, with the Mets failing to score even once. The main differences were that there was no dominant performance by a starter - Walker Buehler left after four innings - and the setting was Citi Field and not Dodger Stadium. For the Mets, Luis Severino was on the mound and his pitching wasn't the main issue: he lasted until two were out in the 5th and allowed just two runs, both unearned. However, the Dodgers teed off against two Mets relievers to run away with the score.

The outcome of the game turned around the 2nd inning, which was key for both teams. For the Dodgers, it started with a walk to Max Muncy followed by a tapper in front of home plate by Teoscar Hernández. Catcher Francisco Alvarez fielded the ball, but instead of getting the sure out at first base, he tried to play the hero by throwing to second base, but his throw was off target and everyone was safe on the error. That made Severino's job a lot more complicated and while he got Gavin Lux to hit a ball back to him, both runners advanced 90 feet. Muncy scored on a single by Will Smith that deflected off Severino towards SS Francisco Lindor and Hernández followed on a sacrifice fly by Tommy Edman on which CF Tyrone Taylor and RF Starling Marte almost crashed into each other. It was 2-0 without the Dodgers having hit one ball out of the infield, save for the sacrifice fly. The Mets had a chance to reply immediately, however, but wasted it. J.D. Martinez drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the 2nd and went to second on a single by José Iglesias that ate up SS Edman. Taylor then walked as well to load the bases, but Buehler settled down to strike out Alvarez and Lindor in succession, and he escaped the jam without damage. He had had to make a large number of pitches, however, which explained why he only lasted four innings.

Severino got himself in trouble again in the top of the 3rd by walking the first two batters, Ohtani and Betts. He then got Freddie Freeman on a short fly to left, but the bases were loaded again after Muncy singled to right. However, Severino got Teoscar Hernández to line out softly to third and Lux to ground out, so he escaped without a run being scored. Just one well-timed hit by the Dodgers in the 2nd or the 3rd could have broken the game completely open, but it would remain close for a few more innings. The Mets then wasted another opportunity as well, stranding two runners in the bottom of the 3rd before Buehler completed his outing with his only perfect inning in the 4th. The Dodgers placed two more runners on base after two outs in the 5th, on a single by Freeman followed by a walk to Muncy, which spelled the end for Severino. Reed Garrett replaced him and struck out Teoscar Hernández to end the inning. For their part, the Dodgers brought out Michael Kopech to pitch the 5th, and his perfect inning would earn him the win, Buehler having failed to complete five innings.

After five innings, the score was still 2-0 and it was now up to the bullpens to bring it home, but on that count, the Dodgers' relievers thoroughly outpitched those of the Mets: the Dodgers' four pitchers allowed just one hit in five innings, while the two relievers used by the Mets - Garrett and Tylor Megill - gave up six runs on seven hits in 4 1/3. What had been a close game became a laugher. All six of the runs scored on long balls. In the 6th, Edman singled with two outs, after which Garrett was called for a balk, then, more importantly, gave up a homer to Kiké Hernandez, who seemed to have once again put on his superhero costume for the postseason: it was the 15th postseason homer of his career, tying him with Babe Ruth on the all-time list, although Ruth had hit all of his long balls in the World Series. That two-run blast made it 4-0. In the 8th, with Smith and Kiké Hernandez on base, Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer off Megill, while Muncy hit a solo shot, also off Megill, in the 9th. The Mets' only chance in the late innings came in the 6th against Ryan Brasier when they placed two men on base but José Iglesias then hit into an inning-ending double play. They just went through the motions at the plate after that, so much so that Dave Roberts could let rookie Ben Casparius pitch the final two inning, not feeling the need to use any of his higher-leverage pitchers. The shutout was the Dodgers' fourth in their last five games.

Game 4 @ Citi Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	1	0	2	2	0	2	0	3	0	10	12	0
Mets	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	0
WP: Evan Phillips (1-0); LP: José Quintana (0-1)
Home Runs: LA - Shohei Ohtani (2), Mookie Betts (1); NY - Mark Vientos (2)

Attendance: 43,882

The Dodgers put together another emphatic win in Game 4, ending up 10-2 winners to move to within one game of the World Series. The two teams traded blows in the early innings, but the Dodgers began to run away with the game when they scored four unanswered runs in the 4th and 6th innings. On the mound, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, coming off a great outing to clinch the Division Series, was facing José Quintana. The Dodgers switched things up a bit in their starting line-up, resting 1B Freddie Freeman, with Andy Pages and Chris Taylor being inserted in the bottom two spots of the line-up, the latter in place of 2B Gavin Lux. The only change for the Mets was to have Harrison Bader start in CF in place of Tyrone Taylor.

The Dodgers got on the board immediately when Shohei Ohtani, fresh off his upper-deck homer in his final at-bat the previous evening, hit another long ball on Quintana's second pitch of the game. However, the Mets were able to reply quickly as Mark Vientos hit his fourth long ball of the postseason with one out in the bottom of the 1st. After a relatively calm 2nd inning, Ohtani stirred things up again in the 3rd, when he drew a one-out walk, followed by a single by Mookie Betts. With two outs, Tommy Edman hit a double and Kiké Hernandez followed with a single, with each hit scoring a run, to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. The Mets were able to reply with Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor opening the bottom of the 3rd with back-to-back singles. After a strikeout of Vientos, Pete Alonso drew a walk to load the bases, but the Mets only managed one run, and that thanks to an out call being overturned at first base following a video review. Brandon Nimmo had apparently hit into an inning-ending double play, but the replay showed his foot had touched the first base bag milliseconds before Max Muncy had caught Edman's throw. It was now 3-2, but the Mets, who had all the ingredients for a big inning, would not score after that as Starling Marte grounded out.

In the 4th José Butto replaced Quintana after he had issued a single to Taylor followed by a walk to Ohtani with one out. Betts then hit a double, scoring both runners, and it was becoming clear that the Mets had no answer to how to stop the Dodgers' bats. It was now 5-2, and the Mets went down in order against Yamamoto in the 4th. In the 5th, he hit the lead-off hitter, Alvarez, with a fastball on the upper thigh, and after striking out Lindor, he was removed in favor of Evan Phillips who retired the next two batters. Then the Dodgers applied the killing blow in the 6th, when Ohtani walked for the third time, and after Phil Maton had replaced Butto on the mound, Betts followed with a homer to the left field corner. There was no coming back from a 7-2 deficit. The Mets did give it a try in the bottom of that inning when they loaded the bases with no one out, on a pair of singles and a walk, but José Iglesias struck out, and pinch-hitters Jeff McNeil and Jesse Winker both flied out harmlessly, the latter against closer Blake Treinen who was called into the game early. As had been the case in the 3rd, the Mets' inability to get a big hit after loading the bases cost them dearly. The Dodgers scored three more runs in the 8th, to make it 10-2, with Danny Young on the mound in a mop-up role; a double by Edman drove in two and a single by Will Smith drove in the other. When Muncy struck out in that inning, it ended a streak of 12 straight plate appearances in which he had reached base, setting a new postseason record (he had walked his first three times up in this game, then singled in the 7th). With the issue not at all in doubt, Dave Roberts could once again turn to one of his youngsters to handle the final two innings, in this case Edgardo Henriquez. He had given up some runs in his previous outings during the postseason, but this time his work was clean: the Mets got a pair of hits and a walk over the final two frames, but did not score, and it was their third lopsided loss in four games.

Game 5 @ Citi Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	0	1	0	1	3	1	0	0	0	6	9	0
Mets	3	0	5	2	0	1	0	1	x	12	14	0
WP: Ryne Stanek (1-0); LP: Jack Flaherty (1-2)
Home Runs: NY - Pete Alonso (1); LA - Andy Pages 2 (2), Mookie Betts (2)

Attendance: 43,841

The Mets needed to pull out all the stops to avoid elimination in Game 5, and that they did, by making contact and plenty of it. They did not strike out once during the entire game, something unseen in a postseason game since the 2002 Anaheim Angels had last pulled off the feat. And it wasn't weak contact, as they scored ten runs over the first four innings and ran away with the score, with the game ending 12-6 in their favor. Contrary to his outing in Game 1, Jack Flaherty did not have it today, as he gave up eight of the runs in just three innings, while David Peterson, starting the game after pitching out of the bullpen since the start of the postseason gave up two runs in less than four innings. In another game, this could have been characterized as a shaky outing, but today, it simply meant that the win was credited to Ryne Stanek, the Mets' third pitcher, after Reed Garrett had not been very good either after taking over for Peterson. But the important thing was that the series was heading back to Los Angeles.

For once, the Mets kept the Dodgers from scoring in the 1st inning, although they tried their best with Shohei Ohtani leading off with a single and Mookie Betts following with a double. But Peterson managed to retire the next three batters in order without either of the baserunners scoring, and that seemed to give the team a big emotional boost for the bottom of the inning. Francisco Lindor led off with a single, followed by a walk to Brandon Nimmo, and with one out, Pete Alonso hit another big postseason homer, after also doing so in each of the first two rounds. The Dodgers managed to get one run back in the 2nd as Kiké Hernandez walked, went to third on a single by Andy Pages and scored on a wild pitch. The game was decided in the bottom of the 3rd, however, when the Mets really went to work against Flaherty. Alonso and Jesse Winker drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning and both scored on a double by Starling Marte. After two outs, Francisco Alvarez singled to score Marte, Lindor tripled and Nimmo singled to make it 8-1. L.A. got one run back in the top of the 4th on a solo homer by Pages, and after Peterson loaded the bases with a single and two walks, he was replaced by Garrett who recorded the third out. But New York continued to press the issue with two more runs in the bottom of the inning, against Brent Honeywell. Alonso was hit by a pitch before Winker hit a triple, then Tyrone Taylor was also hit by a pitch, which was followed by a sacrifice fly by Jeff McNeil. It was now 10-2, after just four innings.

The Dodgers outscored the Mets the rest of the way, but just 4-2, so the big lead was never in real danger. That was in spite of Pages hitting his second homer of the game, with two men on, off Garrett in the 5th. The Mets added single runs in the 6th and the 8th, while Betts accounted for the Dodgers' final run with a solo homer to lead off the 6th against Stanek. In the 8th, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza decided not to mess around with lesser pitchers, and asked closer Edwin Diaz to take care of the final two innings. The closer had been up-and-down all season and in the postseason as well, but this time he did his job with efficiency, allowing just a single to Tommy Edman with two outs in the 9th, and nothing else. In spite of all the runs they allowed, the Dodgers used only three pitchers: Flaherty, Honeywell and Anthony Banda, who just went one-third of an inning. Their bullpen badly needed the rest. Alonso finished with four runs scored and three RBIs, leading New York in both categories.

Game 6 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mets	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	1	5	11	0
Dodgers	2	0	4	0	0	1	0	3	x	10	11	0
WP: Ben Casparius (1-0); LP: Sean Manaea (1-1); SV: Blake Treinen (1)
Home Runs: LA - Tommy Edman (1), Will Smith (1); NY - Mark Vientos (3)

Attendance: 52,674

The Dodgers won Game 6 by once again reaching double figures in runs and getting just enough pitching in what was their third bullpen game of the postseason to defeat the Mets, 10-5. They got off to a quick start, leading 6-1 after three innings, and then held on until they scored three runs in the 8th to give themselves a bit of a cushion as the resilient Mets refused to go down easy. Heading into the game, Sean Manaea had long been confirmed as the starting pitcher for the Mets, while Michael Kopech was only designated as the opener by the Dodgers a few hours before game time. Not that the identity of the first man to get the ball mattered much, as everyone in the team's bullpen was expected to see action if required. Once again, both Freddie Freeman and Gavin Lux were out of the Dodgers' starting line-up, the former because of his ankle injury, and the latter because the opposing starting pitcher was lefthanded.

The Mets started off well against Kopech as Francisco Lindor drew a lead-off walk, went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground out, before an infield single by Pete Alonso drove him in with two outs. Alonso made it to second on an error by 2B Chris Taylor, and Jesse Winker drew a walk, but both were stranded when Starling Marte ended the inning by flying out to right. The Dodgers replied immediately, as Shohei Ohtani led off with a single and went to third when Teoscar Hernandez singled with one out. Tommy Edman drove them both in with a double as the Dodgers also stranded a pair (Kiké Hernandez had drawn a two-out walk). In the 2nd, Ben Casparius took over for Kopech and put a couple of runners on with two outs, but got Brandon Nimmo to pop up for the third out. Because Kopech was not eligible for the win, Casparius would end up the winner, as the Dodgers' lead held until the end of the game and no other pitcher shined through in a manner to could have incited the official scorer to award him the win instead. Casparius got one more out in the 3rd, then gave up a single to Alonso and was replaced by Anthony Banda. Banda walked Winker but got Marte to pop up for an infield fly before plunking Tyrone Taylor to load the bases. This was the Mets' best chance to tie the score or re-take the lead, but Jeff McNeil struck out to end the inning.

The Dodgers then made the Mets pay for their lack of opportunism by scoring four runs in the bottom of the 3rd, putting them comfortably in the driver's seat. Teoscar Hernandez led off with a single and Edman followed with a homer. That gave him 4 RBIs for the game and 11 for the series (his knack for getting timely hits was the reason Dave Roberts had put him in the clean-up spot with Freeman unavailable) and it would earn him the NLCS MVP award at the end of the game. Manaea then walked Max Muncy and was replaced by Phil Maton, who got two outs, but then gave up another two-run homer, this one to Will Smith. It was now 6-1 and the Dodgers had one foot in the World Series. As they had done all postseason, the Mets proved resilient, however, as they managed to score twice in the 4th when Ryan Brasier, who replaced Banda with one man on and two outs, gave up a home run to Mark Vientos - his fifth of the postseason. The lead was down to 6-3, the Dodgers had already used four pitchers, and there were another four innings to go, so the Mets still had a chance. To keep things close, Carlos Mendoza went completely off script and summoned Edwin Diaz, his closer, to pitch the bottom of the 4th. The unusual strategy worked in that Diaz was almost flawless in two innings of work, but it would have put the Mets in a quandary if they had managed to tie the score later in the game. That did not happen as Brasier pitched a scoreless 5th inning, and Evan Phillips put up a goose egg in the 6th even though he issued a pair of two-out walks to Vientos and Alonso to load the bases. This time, it was Winker who failed to deliver the big hit, flying out to left to end the inning.

Mendoza turned to another one of his high-leverage relievers, after Maton and Diaz, in the bottom of the 6th, but Ryne Stanek failed to do the job. He walked Smith to start the inning and Chris Taylor laid down a successful bunt, with everyone ending up safe. Ohtani followed with a single and the Dodgers had increased their lead to 7-3. Out came Stanek, and in came Reed Garrett to get out of the jam. He did very well, as he first got Mookie Betts to force out Ohtani at second while Chris Taylor advanced to third, then got Teoscar Hernandez on a line out before getting Edman to ground out. It could have been a big inning, but the Mets still had a chance, albeit a slim one. They got a pair of singles with one out against Daniel Hudson in the 7th, placing runners on the corners, and a sacrifice fly by Francisco Alvarez brought them back within three runs, at 7-4. In the bottom of that inning, it was Kodai Senga, who had not pitched since a poor start in Game 1, who came out of the Mets' bullpen and he immediately hit Muncy with a pitch. However, he got the next three batters, and the score remained at 7-4. Needing six more outs, Roberts now called in his closer, Blake Treinen, who was well rested after pitching only once in the series thanks to a string of lopsided scores. He was expeditive in the 8th, striking out the side. The Dodgers then gave him a nice cushion with tree runs against Senga in the bottom of the 8th. The inning started with a hit, a walk and a run-scoring double by Betts, then a sacrifice fly by Teoscar Hernandez. Next came a fielder's choice, another walk, and a single by Kiké Hernandez, and it was now 10-4. Senga was unable to finish the inning, giving way to José Butto. Five runs down in the 9th, the Mets would have needed something unprecedented to pull off a victory. They managed one run when Tyrone Taylor singled with two outs, moved to second on defensive indifference and then scored on a single by McNeil, but it was not nearly eanough. Alvarez grounded out to Chris Taylor to end the inning, the game and the series. The Dodgers were off to meet the New York Yankees in the World Series.