Going for the kill

Dodgers are one win away from the World Series

The Dodgers are one win away from advancing to the World Series. Imagine if I would have told you that a little over a week ago?

It doesn’t seem too long ago where the Dodgers were one loss away from elimination. They trailed the Padres 2-1 in the NLDS. There was a bullpen game in San Diego for Game 4. Hope seemed lost.

Well, how quickly things can change.

The Dodgers dominated the Mets once again, winning 10-2 in Game 4. LA has outscored New York 30-9 this series. It’s been pure domination.

Just one more of these games and the Dodgers will be playing in the World Series for the first time since 2020.

This offense…

For years we suffered having to watch this offense in October. The bats just became non-existent. Well, things have certainly changed this year.

The Dodgers lead in essentially every hitting category this postseason. Their lineup has been unstoppable, especially in this series. The bats had another big showing on Thursday night, scoring 10 runs on 12 hits with nine walks. Every hitter that was in the starting lineup reached base.

I’ve said it a handful of times and I’ll say it again, the Dodgers will not lose a game if the offense shows up. If they draw walks and record hits, they’ll win every game.

Shohei Ohtani FINALLY recorded a hit with the bases empty, snapping an 0-for-22 stretch. He did it in dramatic fashion as he led off the game with a homer, his second in as many games and third of the postseason. For the game, Ohtani also reached three times with three walks and scored four runs.

Remember when everyone was bashing Mookie Betts for sucking in the postseason? Now, it was warranted, because he had a 3-for-46 stretch that went all the way back to the 2021 NLCS. Well, he’s been fantastic this postseason and may have had the best game of his postseason career last night.

Betts recorded four hits and drove in four runs. For Betts, his four RBI were a career high in the postseason. It was also the second time in his postseason career he’s recorded four hits in a game. Betts is the first Dodgers player to record four hits and drive in four runs in October since Chris Taylor in Game 5 of the 2021 NLCS. The only other Dodgers player to ever do that was Steve Garvey in Game 4 of the 1974 NLCS.

Meanwhile, how about Max Muncy? He reached base four more times and made postseason history. He reached in 12 consecutive plate appearances, setting a new postseason record for one single postseason. I know a lot of other players have been getting the attention they rightfully deserve, but Muncy has the highest OPS (1.117) on the team this postseason.

Tommy Edman had another big day, as he’s making a serious case for being NLCS MVP. He recorded two more hits and drove in three runs. He’s hitting .324 in the postseason, but has a .412 average with a .918 OPS in the NLCS. His seven RBI are tied with Betts for the team lead this series.

It’s been a collective effort from top to bottom on this offense. Everyone is contributing.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked great

I know technically his start in Game 5 delivered better results, but I thought Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked better last night than in his previous outing. After tossing five scoreless innings last week, Yamamoto allowed two runs in 4.1 innings. His pitch count was still relatively low, but Dave Roberts chose to turn things over to his bullpen.

Personally, I get why they went to the bullpen, but I would have kept Yamamoto in. He just struck out Francisco Lindor and his stuff hadn’t dropped off. Again, I get why they made the switch and it paid off, but I would have loved to see Yamamoto at least finish the inning.

In his 4.1 innings, Yamamoto struck out eight, one away from his career high. He was just fooling Mets hitters all night long. His 16 whiffs were the third most he’s had in his career. Again, take into account he only threw 73 pitches. Had he gone 90-100 pitches he likely would have set a career-high in strikeouts and whiffs.

Yamamoto’s called strike/whiff percentage of 38.4 percent was also the third highest of his big league career. Considering the fact it was Game 4 of the NLCS, I got no problem saying last night was the best Yamamoto has looked in his young career.

He made one bad pitch to Mark Vientos that resulted in a home run, but that was the only mistake he made all night. A second run scored in the third inning, but that was because the Dodgers couldn’t turn a routine double play. Yamamoto passed the eye test and is getting better with each start he makes in the postseason.