Winning a baseball game in the playoffs is extremely difficult. Just ask the other 26 teams in Major League Baseball that are home watching the last four left standing.
But winning a baseball game in the playoffs without your all-star first baseman, starting second baseman, and shortstop, against the hottest pitcher in the postseason is even more difficult.
Mission Impossible?
Not for the arm-flailing, sunflower seed throwing, home run hitting Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts both homered in Game 4, and the Dodgers defeated the New York Mets in blowout fashion, 10-2, on Thursday night at Citi Field. Los Angeles leads the series 3-1, and are now one win away from reaching their first World Series since 2020.
"It feels good," said Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts of being one win away from the Fall Classic. "I like the us-against-the-world attitude that our guys have taken on. I think that's kind of ironic with the Dodgers, but I like that. But I'm very excited to be in this position and I just want to keep our guys hungry and focused and not let these guys back in the series."
On paper, Game 4 looked like a mismatch for the Dodgers. No Freddie Freeman or Gavin Lux, instead they had Andy Pages, hitting .167 in center, Chris Taylor, who hadn’t recorded a hit this postseason at second, and Tommy Edman batting cleanup.
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When was the last time you saw a 5’8”, 180-pound, shortstop in the four-hole?
But none of that mattered for the Dodgers on Thursday. It was simply business as usual.
"I feel proud that we can hang our hat on the fact that there's never been an excuse all year for our club as far as winning the division and winning 11 games in October, "said Roberts. "To not have Freddie start a playoff game, there was still no excuse. We were expecting to win this game tonight. It's that next-guy-up mentality. It's the fight that I've seen in these guys."
The business of baseball is one Dodgers’ President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman, knows well. He likes to construct his roster with as much versatility and flexibility as possible. He’s got more Swiss Army knives at his disposable than the entire population of Switzerland.
When the Dodgers were sputtering in mid-April, losers of seven of nine, Friedman called up Pages from Triple-A Oklahoma City to provide a spark. They went on to win their next six.
At the trade deadline he acquired Edman, a player he’d always coveted, despite the fact the utility player had not played a single game all season. Once he made his season debut on Aug. 19, the Dodgers went on to win 9 of their next 11.
Freidman didn’t even re-sign Kiké Hernandez until the final day of February, and he’s arguably been the Dodgers best player in the postseason.
"We've seen it a lot this year with the next-man-up mentality," said Friedman of how his team has been able to step up this postseason despite all the injuries. "We saw it in the last round. We've had a lot of different things go on and guys have elevated their game and stepped up."
All of them contributed to the victory in Game 4, but it was the Dodgers other two former MVPs that shouldered the load.
Betts and Ohtani combined to go 5-for-9 with two home runs, three walks, five RBI, and seven runs scored.
"We knew with Freddie [Freeman] being out we had to take care of business," said Betts to MLB Network of the dynamic duo of he and Ohtani at the top of the lineup. "But it's not just me and Sho, it's the rest of the guys too. All of us have to step up."
Mets’ starter Jose Quintana, who hadn’t allowed an earned run in six of his last seven starts, including back-to-back shutout appearances in the postseason, lasted just two pitches before he allowed an earned run in Game 4.
"They forced Quintana to come in on the strike zone," said Mets' manager Carlos Mendoza of the Dodgers approach at the plate. "And when he did, they made him pay."
Ohtani greeted Quintana with a leadoff homer into the Mets’ bullpen, his first hit of the postseason without a runner on base.
SHOHEI OHTANI LEADOFF TANK
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
WELCOME TO #NLCS GAME 4 pic.twitter.com/LrUwXWpqMo
"The focus has been pretty much the same regardless of the situation if there's runners on or not," said Ohtani through a translator. "I kind of stick to the same plan, the same approach."
The Mets’ responded in the bottom half of the inning, when their hottest hitter, Mark Vientos, homered into the Dodgers bullpen to provide the punch back that New York needed.
MARK VIENTOS! WE ARE TIED! pic.twitter.com/t70FJvkwf9
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
Edman, who knocked in three runs total, put the Boys in Blue back in front with a two-out, RBI double in the top of the third. Hernández followed with an RBI single.
Tommy Edman delivers for the @Dodgers 😤 #NLCS pic.twitter.com/YiFKbZcvkv
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
"I haven't hit cleanup a lot in my life, and to do that in this lineup is pretty crazy. I just did my job today, had some good at-bats, and had a couple opportunities to get some runners in, and I cashed them in," said Edman.
After that it was all Betts ,as he brought home two with a double in the fourth, and belted his third home run of the postseason with a blast in the sixth that silenced the raucous and ruthless crowd.
MOOKIE BETTS!
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
HE'S 3-FOR-4 WITH 4 RBI TONIGHT! #NLCS pic.twitter.com/tzFS5KHPEz
"I felt pretty good," said Betts of his performance at the plate in Game 4. "It's good to feel good. It's good to help the team. Pitching did amazing. It was fun."
Max Muncy, who replaced Freeman at first base, remained locked in at the plate. He broke the single postseason record for reaching base safely in 12 consecutive plate appearances.
Max Muncy has now reached base in 12 straight plate appearances 😤
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
He's tied with Reggie Jackson for the most consecutive #Postseason plate appearances reaching safely. pic.twitter.com/6zdDXRWuSz
"I wasn't even aware of that stat," said a surprised Muncy when told of his record. "The biggest thing to me is that it means I'm getting base for my teammates and giving them a chance to drive me in and creating traffic out there for the opposing team."
The hero of Game 5 of the NLDS, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, delivered another solid performance, allowing just two runs on four hits, with one walk and eight strikeouts in four and one-third innings.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto closes out his night by striking out Francisco Lindor 😤 #NLCS pic.twitter.com/SWtecYh1Xh
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
For the second straight game, the Mets were haunted by missed opportunities. They nearly stranded the bases loaded in the third, but a manager’s challenge overturned an inning-ending double play. Instead they stranded runners at the corners.
The Mets again loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth, but were incapable of scratching a run across against the Dodgers bullpen. In total, the Mets were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.
"They have executed and we haven't," said Mets' MVP Francisco Lindor of their struggled with runners in scoring position. "I came up with bases loaded and didn't come through. Today we had people on base multiple times and we didn't come through. You have to execute with people on base."
The Mets inability to get the big hit when they needed turned the boisterous sellout crowd of 43,882 into a venomous viper pit. They turned on their team, grunting, groaning, booing, and moaning until they headed for the exits in the bottom of the seventh inning.
After dispatching of the pesky Padres in the NLDS, the Dodgers appear to be firing on all cylinders in the NLCS. That bodes well for Game 5, so does the fact that right-hander Jack Flaherty, who threw seven shutout innings in Game 1, is expected to start on Friday.
"I think that Padres series was good for us," said Chris Taylor. "It woke us up and got us in the right mindset right away. I really think this team has found another gear in the postseason and we're showing it. We're hungry."
The Dodgers have now won five straight games at Citi Field dating back to the regular season. They need just one more win here to advance to their fourth World Series in eight years. But as the Dodgers know well, the potential clinching one is always the most difficult.
