Oct. 18 (UPI) — Mookie Betts recorded four hits and four RBIs, while Shohei Ohtani homered for the second-consecutive game, fueling a lopsided Game 4 win over the New York Mets and giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the NLCS.
Betts went 4 for 6 with a two-run homer in the 10-2 triumph Thursday at Citi Field in Flusing, N.Y.. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed four hits and two runs over 4 1/3 innings. The Los Angeles bullpen shut out the Mets over the final 4 2/3 innings.
Game 5 of the best-of-seven game series will be Friday at Citi Field.
“I’m just simply grateful to be in this environment and to be able to play in this playoff environment,” Ohtani said. “It’s been fun being able to experience the passion of the fans.
“I hope that I’ll be able to perform well Friday.”
The Dodgers are one win shy of advancing to the World Series for the fourth time in eight years.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We’ve gotta win one more game this series. I love the way our guys haven’t let off the gas.”
Ohtani, who homered in his final at-bat in the Dodgers’ Game 3 victory, went deep for the second-consecutive plate appearance to lead off Thursday’s win.
That 422-foot blast came off the second pitch of the game from Mets starter Jose Quintana.
Mets third baseman Mark Vientos tied the score with a 397-foot shot in the bottom of the first inning, but the Dodgers took control with two more runs in the third.
Shortstop Tommy Edman plated Ohtani with an RBI double for a 2-1 lead. Third baseman Enrique Hernandez hit an RBI single in the next exchange.
The Mets scored their final run when the Dodgers failed to convert a double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third. Left fielder Brandon Nimmo brought in that run when he hit a grounder to second baseman Chris Taylor.
Betts belted a two-run double to left in the fourth and smashed his 377-foot, two-run homer in the sixth for a 7-2 Dodgers edge. Edman brought in two more runs on a double in the eighth. Catcher Will Smith brought in Edman with a single later in the inning for the game’s final run.
Game 5 is scheduled to start at 5:08 p.m. EDT Friday and air on FS1. Game 6, if necessary, will be Sunday in Los Angeles.
The winner of the series will meet the Cleveland Guardians or New York Yankees next weekend in the World Series. The Guardians beat the Yankees 7-5 Thursday in Cleveland to cut their series deficit to 2-1. Game 4 will air at 8:08 p.m. Friday on TBS.
