Shohei Ohtani led the injury-plagued Los Angeles Dodgers to the best record in baseball this season. Tommy Edman joined the team in late July and helped them make it to the World Series.
This has been a remarkable year for the big-spending Dodgers. Whenever Ohtani isn’t showcasing his incredible power at the plate or speed on the bases, other players are stepping up.
Edman and Will Smith both hit home runs to help send Ohtani to the World Series for the first time, as the Dodgers defeated the New York Mets 10-5 in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series on Sunday night. Los Angeles will face the New York Yankees in the World Series starting Friday.
“I really feel like we finally arrived, I finally arrived at this stage,” Ohtani said through a translator. “A lot of the games we played were really tough and hard to win, and it was truly a team effort to get here.”
The Dodgers secured their record 25th NL pennant, their fourth in eight years, and the first won at home since they beat the Mets in seven games in 1988. They are headed to their 22nd World Series—13th in Los Angeles—and first since 2020, when they won against Tampa Bay in the pandemic-delayed season.
“Every year I get to spring training and I wonder how we’re going to make a baseball team fit because we have so many talented players,” reliever Evan Phillips said. “I wouldn’t say we planned for injuries but we planned to have multiple guys contribute throughout the year.”
Next, Ohtani and his teammates will face Aaron Judge and the Yankees, who are making their 41st World Series appearance and first in 15 years. This matchup, starting at Dodger Stadium, features the two top home-run hitters: Judge with 58 and Ohtani with 54.
“It’s kind of what the people wanted, what we all wanted,” Dodgers star Mookie Betts said. “It’s going to be a battle of two good teams, a lot of long flights across the country.”
This will be the 12th time the Dodgers and Yankees face each other in the World Series and the first time in 43 years. The Yankees have won against the Dodgers eight times, while the Dodgers have claimed three championships against them in 1955, 1963, and 1981.
“It’s the place that I’ve dreamt of playing all my life,” Ohtani said, “and to be able to finally come to this stage and be able to play and hopefully win it is my next goal.”
In his first season with the Dodgers after signing a record $700 million, 10-year contract as a free agent, Ohtani had two hits and scored two runs in Game 6. He finished the NL Championship Series with a .364 average, two home runs, and six RBIs.
“The goal was to get to this far,” Ohtani said. “And I also pictured myself getting this far with the contract that I’ve signed.”
Ohtani spent his first six seasons in Major League Baseball with the Los Angeles Angels, who never had a winning record or reached the playoffs during his time there.
“We wouldn’t be here without him,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “We went through a lot of injuries and there was a good stretch during the regular season where he singlehandedly carried us.”
The Dodgers, who were knocked out in the Division Series for the past two years, spent a total of $1 billion last winter to sign Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to big long-term contracts in hopes of winning the franchise’s eighth World Series title.
Rookie Ben Casparius got four outs for the win, while Blake Treinen earned the save in his first two-inning appearance since the 2021 NLCS.
Los Angeles fell behind after Pete Alonso’s run-scoring single against starter Michael Kopech.
Edman put the Dodgers ahead for good with a two-run double in the bottom half off Sean Manaea, driving in Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández, who both had singles. Hernández ended an 0-for-18 slump with that hit.
Edman drove in the Dodgers’ first four runs, and his 11 RBIs in the NLCS matched a franchise record set by Corey Seager in 2020 against Atlanta. Edman, who was named the NLCS MVP, joined the Dodgers at the trade deadline in July from St. Louis.
“I think the common theme for this season has been a lot of people, different guys have been stepping up over the course of the season,” Ohtani said.
Edman hit a 406-foot home run to left-center in a four-run third inning, which also included Smith’s 416-foot shot to center off Phil Maton, extending the lead to 6-1.
“I never imagined once we acquired him, he’d be hitting fourth in a postseason game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Edman. “But I trust him. The guys trust him. He’s made huge defensive plays for us and had huge hits.”
Vientos hit his fifth postseason home run, a two-run shot off Ryan Brasier in the fourth inning that brought the score to 6-3.
The Dodgers, whose starting pitchers have been hit hard by injuries, used seven pitchers to finish off the Mets, who had the highest payroll in baseball at $332 million.
New York twice left the bases loaded—first when Anthony Banda struck out Jeff McNeil in the third inning and again when Jesse Winker flew out against Phillips in the sixth.
Los Angeles outscored New York 40-26 in the six-game series. The Mets came very close to reaching the World Series after bouncing back from a 22-33 start and securing the last wild card in the NL.
“This should be our expectations moving forward every year, we should be playing games deep into October,” said first-year manager Carlos Mendoza.
Manaea pitched only two innings, giving up five runs and six hits. Alonso had two hits and drove in a run in what could have been his last game for the Mets, as he is eligible for free agency after the World Series.
“I love this team. I love this organization. This fanbase has treated not just myself, but my family so, so well,” Alonso said.
The sellout crowd of 52,674 included celebrities like Tom Hanks, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Magic Johnson, Rob Lowe, Josh Groban, Jenny McCarthy, and Vanessa Bryant.
