After a victory in a pivotal Game 3, the Dodgers came back in Game 4 by starting right thanks to a lead-off homer from Shohei Ohtani. But it was Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman who had the biggest days in helping the Dodgers pour it on in what was a blowout win thanks to Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the pen managed by Dave Roberts limiting the damage in a 10-2 victory over the Mets.
One win away from the World Series, boys.
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Like a lot of Mets, Jose Quintana finished the season extremely strong and that has continued into the playoffs. He hadn’t allowed a homer since August 20, but it took one batter for that to change when Shohei led the game off with one, his second in as many games. 1-0 Dodgers in the 1st.
SHO 'EM, 17! pic.twitter.com/0Zv1q3FQ61
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 18, 2024
Shohei Ohtani wasted NO TIME. pic.twitter.com/e8A7LPbDSP
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 18, 2024
On the other side was Yamamoto, coming off a heroic Game 5 performance in the NLDS, and he unfortunately began in a similar way. The game was tied up again in a hurry as Mark Vientos absolutely smashed a ball to center for a 1-1 tie, though Yamamoto did get a pair of strikeouts in the 1st.
MARK VIENTOS! WE ARE TIED! pic.twitter.com/t70FJvkwf9
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
Thankfully, the Dodgers were next to strike. After a 2nd in which Quintana gave up just a walk, the bats came right back in the 3rd to take a lead.
A one-out unintentional intentional walk to Shohei was followed by a Mookie single, though Teoscar Hernandez striking out put the rally on the verge. However, Edman doubled to left to score a run, and Enrique Hernandez followed by grounding a single off Francisco Lindor‘s glove for another run to make it 3-1.
Tommy for the lead! pic.twitter.com/XHOJGxtYmf
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 18, 2024
Kiké sigue produciendo. pic.twitter.com/GYes640Ux6
— Los Dodgers (@LosDodgers) October 18, 2024
The rally wasn’t done there, as the runners were still cornered, and they were loaded after a Max Muncy walk. However, Will Smith popped foul to end the threat with Quintana on the ropes.
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The Mets made that missed chance look costly immediately. After Yamamoto gave up just a single in the 2nd and struck out three, he gave up back-to-back singles to start the 3rd. After getting a big strikeout, he went to 3-2 against Pete Alonso and then walked him to load the bases. Brandon Nimmo followed by seemingly grounding into a double play, but he beat it out after a slow turn and it was down to 3-2 Dodgers.
Thankfully, Edman made a great backhanded play on a grounder to prevent further damage at the end of the 3rd.
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The Dodgers came right back in the 4th, as with one down Chris Taylor reached on an infield single, Shohei drew another walk, and Quintana exited for Jose Butto. He was greeted rudely by Betts, who rapped a double down the line in left to plate both CT3 and Ohtani to make it 5-2.
Mookie clears the bases! pic.twitter.com/D3n830MnW6
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 18, 2024
50's feeling good. ? pic.twitter.com/LcHxl5O10X
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 18, 2024
He didn’t move after that due to Teoscar and Edman not doing much, but that was key insurance. Butto continued in the 5th, allowing a walk but nothing else. He actually also started the 6th, getting an out but also issuing another unintentional intentional walk to Ohtani before handing it over to Phil Maton.
Well, Mookie continued to take walking Ohtani in front of him personally, as he skied a homer to left for a 7-2 lead and skipped his way to home.
LIKE WE SAID, 50'S FEELING GOOD. pic.twitter.com/T1C2qvws7Y
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 18, 2024
Skip along with Mookie. pic.twitter.com/WbluzrknVn
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) October 18, 2024
Mooooooook! pic.twitter.com/ywfi7wgKqt
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 18, 2024
That two for the Mets remained on the board due to Dave and the pitching staff, as Yamamoto carved through a 10-pitch 4th, then started the 5th by hitting a batter before ending his outing with a strikeout of Lindor. He may have stayed in were there not a runner on base, but Dave was aggressive with Vientos and Alonso coming, and it paid off when Evan Phillips got a strikeout and a harmless groundout.
Yamamoto gave up runs this time, but he arguably looked as good as he has all season: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 73 Pitches.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 3Ks in the 2nd.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 18, 2024
5Ks thru 2 pic.twitter.com/4DCYb0jDsW
Yoshinobu Yamamoto closes out his night by striking out Francisco Lindor ? #NLCS pic.twitter.com/SWtecYh1Xh
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
After a long inning in which the Dodgers added insurance, Phillips sat and came back out shaky in the 6th. He gave up a pair of singles to start, then issued a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Dave continued to roll with him, and Evan rewarded him with a strikeout of Jose Iglesias and let him go against pinch-hitter Jeff McNeil, who flied out to Andy Pages. His arm in center prevented the hobbled Nimmo from scoring and kept a zero on the board.
With the Dodgers now on the verge, Dave finally made his move to Blake Treinen against pinch-hitter Jesse Winker. While Winker almost went yard, but Treinen did enough to keep it at 7-2.
The Mets come up empty in the 6th after loading the bases with nobody out pic.twitter.com/3cySgS30cS
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 18, 2024
Treinen predictably came out for the 7th, giving up a single before the Dodgers blew another double play chance. With two down he gave up another single, but managed to not make the defense responsible for a run by getting the final out.
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For the Mets, Maton continued on in the 7th, getting two outs but also giving up a single and hitting a batter. That brought up Ohtani again, though he grounded out against Danny Young and ended that threat. The 8th was a different story, as he gave up a Betts single, walked Teoscar, surrendered a two-run double to Edman, and then a single from Enrique that cornered things.
Tommy Edman has a 2-double, 3-RBI night! #NLCS pic.twitter.com/gYvIim3B8q
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
After Muncy struck out to end a hell of a run, Will Smith blooped a single up the middle to make it 10-2. Pages flied out, but a walk to Taylor loaded the bases for Ohtani, but he struck out to not make it a real laugher.
Young continued on and got the Mets’ first clean inning in the 9th, setting the Dodgers down in order.
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Now with a huge lead, the Dodgers turned to Edgardo Henriquez in the 8th, who gave up a walk in a scoreless 8th and a pair of singles in a scoreless 9th.
The @Dodgers dominate Game 4 and are one win away from a National League pennant 👀 pic.twitter.com/KjAgEjdo9d
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2024
Easy peasy.
Victory formation! #NLCS pic.twitter.com/XGcNnnfvo6
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 18, 2024
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Muncy has been a monster.
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
Friends.
Buds. pic.twitter.com/QZostAYq2i
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) October 18, 2024
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The NLCS is now 3-1 for the Dodgers and they are one win away from the World Series.
Same two teams will meet tomorrow at the same place again for Game 5, unfortunately at the early time of 11:08 AM HT/2:08 PM PT/5:08 PM ET on FS1. It’ll likely be Jack Flaherty for the Dodgers against David Peterson for the Mets, but it could also be something of a pen game for both teams.