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Jeff PassonESPN
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Los Angeles Dodgers completed a division-series sweep of NL West rivals San Diego on Thursday night, setting the NLCS show down against the only other unbeaten team of the Atlanta Braves.
The top two teams in the National League will take part in a seven-match series starting on Monday. The ALCS featuring the winners of the ALDS Game 5 in Houston and New York and Tampa Bay will begin on Sunday.
“We clearly feel really confident about our club, [but] We still have a lot to do, “said AJ Pollock. “We did what we had to do, we did what we had to do. We’re celebrating it, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Dodgers will be a clear favorite to win the World Series, and after seeing how hungry they are to Pedres in three games, it’s easy to see why.
In each game, the Dodgers demonstrate championship-caliber characteristics. His pitching has closed the Padres’ dangerous lineup in Game 1. Their home run-loot defense retains a win-win in 2 games. And in Game 3, they woke up in a rage with the offense of Dodgers, relatively inactive in this playoff, led by Will Smith, who became the first catcher and ninth player to record five hits in a post-season game.
Smith stopped his provocation with a base-filled double in the ninth inning and finished 5-for-6 with three RBIs. Los Angeles’ four runs in the ninth inning were a nice bend in the third inning, while the Dodgers put the game out.
After trailing 2-1, Los Angeles scored five runs, three of them with two outs and after a deliberate walk of curiosity. Instead of facing Cody Bellinger, Pedres allowed Pollock to make a run-scoring single in the left field, before Jock Peders took a single-two lead after scoring two.
“Our offense was great. We had great plays, great moments of many different people during the series,” Pollock said.
From there, the Dodgers put him in cruise control and returned to the NLCS for the fourth time in five years and the 14th time in franchise history. In 2016, they lost to the Chicago Cubs. In 2017 and 2018, they just got hate to fall on the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox, both of whom were later disciplined by the commissioner’s office for illegal sign theft. Last year, they were knocked out in spectacular fashion during the division series by the final champion Washington Nations.
This season, Dodgers assured that they will not have such a fate. His 43-17 regular-season record got the first-ranked seed in the postseason, and Los Angeles quickly took over Milwaukee in the wild-card round. Pedres, his N.L. West rivals, was a big threat, but one was outraged. His best starter this season, Danielson Lame Mate, was unable to enter the postseason due to a hand injury, and Mike Klewinger, the starter he acquired at the deadline, missed the second inning of Game 1 due to hand troubles.
The Dodgers have had a relatively healthy season, and that allowed them to weather the barrage of appearances San Diego threw at them in Game 3. The Pedres used a playoff-record of 11 pitchers and 24 players in the game. The volume does not match the excellence of the dodgers.
They go to the NLCS with a pertinent question – will Kenley Jensen keep his job long after the annoying downtime in the momentum? – and a few small issues that answer themselves. All the answers to the excessive questions are given.
Do the Dodgers have the talent to win their first World Series since 1988? Certainly.
Will the Braves pose their most difficult challenge yet with their devastating lineup and crack bullpen? Absolutely. Will this NLCS be memorable? Whether he returns to the World Series with the Dodgers or Atlanta from 1999 to his first place, for sure.
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