os Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the New York Mets in the sixth inning during Game 4 of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field. The Dodgers won 10-2 on Oct. 17, 2024.John Jones/Reuters
Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and scored four times, Mookie Betts also went deep and drove in four runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the New York Mets 10-2 on Thursday night for a 3-1 lead in their lopsided National League Championship Series.
Betts had a two-run homer and a two-run double among his four hits. Max Muncy extended his streak of reaching base safely to 12 plate appearances, a post-season record, and the Dodgers moved within one win of their 25th pennant – most in NL history.
Game 5 is Friday at Citi Field, with Jack Flaherty expected to pitch for Los Angeles with an opportunity to put his hometown team in the World Series.
New York had not committed to a scheduled starter, but it was likely to be Kodai Senga or David Peterson.
Betts broke open the game, greeting reliever Jose Butto with a two-run double in the fourth and then right-hander Phil Maton with a two-run homer in the sixth.
Mark Vientos provided a rare highlight for New York, hitting his fourth post-season homer in the first inning off $325 million rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
But the Mets, who were 14-2 in their past 16 games at Citi Field when they arrived back home Wednesday, were blown out on their own turf for the second consecutive night.
New York has been outscored 30-9 in the series, including 9-0 in the opener and 8-0 in Game 3.
The latest flop after a thrilling comeback ride this far into October hushed a sellout crowd of 43,882 and left Citi Field eerily quiet in the late innings – and just about as empty as April.
Trainer’s room
Dodgers: All-Star 1B Freddie Freeman missed his second game of the playoffs. Freeman has been playing with a badly sprained and swollen right ankle throughout the post-season.
Mets: Slumping catcher Francisco Alvarez hobbled to first base in pain after getting drilled by Yamamoto’s 91 mph sinker to begin the fifth. He was pulled for a pinch hitter with the bases loaded in the sixth.
Up next
Acquired from Detroit at the July 30 trade deadline, Flaherty went 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 10 regular-season starts for the Dodgers and finished 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA overall. He allowed two hits over seven innings to win the NLCS opener 9-0.
