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    • LA approaches World Series with NLCS Game 4 win
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    LA approaches World Series with NLCS Game 4 win

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    NEW YORK — The glass slipper doesn’t fit.

    The storybook ending will be missing a final chapter.

    The New York Mets’ dream season isn’t officially over, but oh, does it ever feel like it?

    The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Mets again, winning 10-2 on Thursday night to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.

    The Dodgers are one win away from reaching the World Series as they await the winner of the New York Yankees-Cleveland Guardians ALCS.

    The Mets, who entered the playoffs at 67-40, need a miracle more than ever.

    “We’ve shown all year that this is a group that is resilient,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “They have that courage. They fight and they don’t give up. They keep playing.”

    Yet they have shown no signs that they have a chance to still make it a compelling series.

    The Dodgers are simply too powerful, too patient and too talented for the Mets.

    If it’s not Shohei Ohtani hitting a homer to start the game, ending his 0-for-22 skid with the bases empty, it’s Mookie Betts going 4-for-6 with a homer and four RBI.

    If it’s not the two MVPs, it’s Max Muncy who has made 12 straight starts, setting a postseason record.

    If it’s not the offense that produces 31 walks — the most in the first four games of a series in postseason history — it’s the pitching staff that puts up zeros.

    “That’s what makes them such a good team offensively,” Mendoza said. “They control the strike zone.”

    Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto struckout eight batters in just 4 ⅓ innings, leaving the game with a 5-2 lead and once again the bullpen absolutely dominated.

    The Dodgers are now 7-1 against the Mets since May, outscoring them 58-12. If it’s any consolation prize for the Mets, at least they weren’t shut out for the third time in this series.

    The Mets needed to have the momentum, the mojo and an advantage in starting pitching – remember?

    Instead, the Dodgers battered the Mets’ rotation.

    Only one Mets starter has lasted more than five innings.

    Veteran Jose Quintana was the victim this time, playing only 3 ⅔ innings.

    Quintana has been one of the National League’s best pitchers over the past two months. He has posted a blistering 0.57 ERA in his last eight starts. He has given up just three runs in 47 ⅓ innings in six regular season starts and two postseason starts since August 20.

    Thursday evening?

    The Dodgers scored five runs off him and jumped out to a 5-2 lead with Betts’ two-run double in the fourth inning.

    It was one of those nights for the Mets.

    Really, that’s the kind of series it turned out to be.

    “It’s a challenge,” Mendoza said, “that’s a good team. That’s a very good team.”

    A team that proves its superiority in this NLCS.

    Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

    Tommy Edman’s two-run double against Danny Young in the eighth inning made it 9-2. Three batters later, catcher Will Smith hit an RBI single to bring Edman home and extend the Dodgers’ lead to 10-2.

    After the Dodgers took a five-run lead in the top of the sixth, Evan Phillips gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases, with no one out in the bottom half of the frame. With the tying run in the on-deck circle, the right-hander struck out Jose Iglesias and flied out Jeff McNeil for the first two outs. Blake Treinen replaced Phillips and got pinch-hitter Jesse Winker to fly out to right, ending the Mets’ threat.

    New York goes 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position in Game 4.

    With the Dodgers leading 5-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Mookie Betts hit a two-run homer off Phil Maton to further extend the Los Angeles lead, likely putting the game out of reach for the Mets.

    Betts is now 3-for-4 with 4 RBI in Game 4 and is a triple away from the cycle.

    In the top of the fourth, Jose Butto replaced starter Jose Quintana with runners on first and second base and one out – and was promptly greeted by Mookie Betts’ two-run double to left.

    With the bases loaded and one out, Brandon Nimmo hit what appeared to be a double play ball to second base, but the stumbling Mets outfielder beat the throw to first base (after review), yielding the team’s second run against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

    With the tying run on third, Yamamoto set up Starling Marte to hit a sharp ground ball into the hole at short range, picked up nicely by Tommy Edman, who threw to second for the power that ended the frame.

    With two outs and runners on first and second base, Dodgers short stop Tommy Edman delivered an RBI double off Jose Quintana to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning. Enrique Hernandez followed with an RBI single to extend LA’s lead to 3-1.

    The Dodgers loaded the bases with a chance to break the game open, but Quintana popped out Will Smith to end the inning.

    After Shohei Ohtani led off Game 4 with a home run, Mets third baseman Mark Vientos responded with a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the first.

    It was the rookie’s fourth homer in the 2024 playoffs and his 12 RBI tied the franchise record for most in a single postseason.

    After breaking out of a slump with a homer in Game 3, Shohei Ohtani led off Game 4 with a solo home run off Mets starter Jose Quintana.

    Quintana came into action on Thursday after throwing eleven scoreless innings so far this postseason.

    The first pitch in Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday at 8:08 PM ET

    • Location: Citi Field in Queens, New York
    • Date: Thursday October 17
    • Time: 8:08 PM ET

    Dodgers vs Mets TV channel

    1. Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
    2. Mookie Betts (R) RF
    3. Teoscar Hernández (R) LF
    4. Tommy Edman (S) SS
    5. Enrique Hernández (R) 3B
    6. Max Muncy (L) 1B
    7. Will Smith (R) C
    8. Andy Pages (R) CF
    9. Chris Taylor (right) 2B

    Mets lineup for NLCS Game 4

    1. Francisco Lindor (S) SS
    2. Mark Vientos (right) 3B
    3. Pete Alonso (right) 1B
    4. Brandon Nimmo (L) LF
    5. Starling Marte (R) RF
    6. JD Martinez (R) DH
    7. José Iglesias (R) 2B
    8. Harrison Bader (R) CF
    9. Francisco Alvarez (right) C

    “He’s obviously sick and he’s doing everything he can to stay on the field,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Game 4. “With the back-to-back games and one tomorrow, I’m just trying to get the feeling make a decision that will put him in the best position for the upcoming matches.

    “And tonight it looked easy. He clearly wants to be there. But it made a lot of sense that he wouldn’t get the start, run up and down the field and be ready for a big spot.”

    NEW YORK – Hey, shouldn’t the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching staff have been a complete mess in the postseason?

    Weren’t the Dodgers headed for another playoff exit because they only had three healthy starters? They had better pitchers on their injured list than on the active roster, right?

    Well, who’s laughing now?

    The Dodgers delivered their fourth shutout in the past five postseason games with an 8-0 loss to the New York Mets at Citi Field on Wednesday night, taking a 2-1 lead in this National League Championship Series.

    “I don’t think we took it personally,” said Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech, the winning pitcher, “but you know, we did.

    “Pretty cool to see what we’re doing.”

    Historically too.

    The Dodgers are the eighth team in postseason history to produce four shutouts, just one shy of Cleveland’s five shutouts in 2016.

    “It’s really satisfying,” Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen said, “but it’s not a crazy formula. Our defense played excellently behind us. The attack makes it a lot easier for us because they take the lead early.

    “We actually don’t let it get any bigger than it is. We’re not afraid to make big pitches in big places.”

    – Bob Nightingale

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