With Jack Flaherty starting NLCS Game 5, Dodgers aren’t overthinking things
NEW YORK — The Dodgers are run by smart guys. Really smart guys. Every now and then, a little too smart for their own good.
The Dodgers already would have swept the National League Championship Series had they deployed their best relievers in the Game 2 bullpen game. In a short series, they did not take their best shot at winning.
So credit where credit is due: The Dodgers could end this NLCS by winning Friday, and they are not overthinking this one.
Their starting pitcher: Jack Flaherty. The Dodgers are taking their best shot at winning.
Freddie Freeman returns to the starting lineup for Game 5
Freddie Freeman was back in the starting lineup for Game 5 of the NLCS after sitting out Game 4 as he continues to navigate a right ankle injury.
Freeman indicated after Thursday’s game that he felt “really good” about being able to play in Friday’s game at Citi Field. He’s playing first base and batting cleanup.
Full lineup below:
Done deal! Dodgers are a lock to finish off Mets and advance to World Series
NEW YORK — In the heart of election season, Los Angeles’ favorite candidate fittingly just pushed their opponent past the breaking point.
I’m calling the National League … for the Dodgers.
I’m calling a spot in the World Series … to the Dodgers.
The polling is not yet complete but it’s happening, a done deal, a mortal lock, prepare for tickets, plan for parties, spread the word, the Dodgers are going to advance to their fourth World Series in eight seasons. It’s only a matter of time.
After a 10-2 victory over the New York Mets in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series at Citi Field on Thursday night, the Dodgers owned a three-games-to-one lead that is essentially insurmountable.
It’s over. The Mets are as done as their roasted pitching. They are as finished as their fleeing fan base. They probably shouldn’t have been here in the first place, and soon they’ll be gone, in the Dodgers’ rearview mirror along with the San Diego Padres, postseason victims of a very different postseason Dodgers team.
Dodgers bullpen shows their ‘pitch each other up’ culture at critical Game 4 moment
NEW YORK — Most fans from a sold-out crowd of 43,882 had filed out of Citi Field by the eighth inning Thursday night, the Dodgers pulling away in the final innings of a 10-2 National League Championship Series Game 4 victory over the New York Mets that moved them to within one win of the World Series.
But only two innings earlier, the joint was jumping, the chants of “Let’s go, Mets!” grew louder and louder, and the Mets, who had staged one dramatic comeback after another this month, were one big swing away from making it a one-run game.
Three batters later, the stadium went so quiet you could hear Grimace, the team’s unofficial mascot, crying in his purple fur, the Mets unable to put a dent in the nearly impenetrable back end of the Dodgers’ bullpen despite loading the bases with no outs.
Dodgers show their might, blowing out Mets to move a win away from World Series
NEW YORK — When the Dodgers dug into their lineup’s playoff problems at the end of last season, they noticed a strange October trend.
Teams that swung freely at the plate seemed to advance more often in recent postseasons. More disciplined clubs like the Dodgers, on the other hand, tended to flame out.
It was an observation that stuck with some Dodgers hitters, third baseman Max Muncy among them, over another long winter.
“There was definitely some talks about it,” Muncy recalled Thursday.
In the end, however, the Dodgers came to a different conclusion entering this postseason, deciding not to change their mindset in October, but rather refine the patient approach that has become a staple of their dominance.
Dodgers vs. Mets: How to watch and betting odds for Game 5
The Dodgers continue the postseason Friday when they face the New York Mets in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field in New York. The Dodgers lead the best-of-seven series 3-1.
The game is scheduled to start at 2:08 p.m. PDT and will air on FS1 and Fox Deportes. Radio broadcasts of the game will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Español) in the Los Angeles area.
Here’s the TV schedule for the remaining games in the series (all times Pacific):
*Sunday: Game 6 — New York Mets at Dodgers, 5:08 p.m. | FS1, FOXD
*Monday: Game 7 — New York Mets at Dodgers, 5:08 p.m. | Fox, FS1, FOXD
*—if necessary