Los Angeles Dodgers rally past Cincinnati Reds to make NLDS on another dramatic night of MLB Wild Card action
By Ben Church, CNN
(CNN) — The Los Angeles Dodgers advanced to the National League (NL) Division Series after rallying to victory against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
The Dodgers completed a sweep of the NL Wild Card series with a 8-4 win, inspired in part by the brilliant Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Betts had four hits and three RBIs, while Yamamoto threw nine strikeouts and allowed only four hits in 6.2 innings pitched to help the Dodgers to victory in Game 2.
Shohei Ohtani – who went 1-for-4 at the plate on Wednesday – had inspired LA to a win in the opening game of the series.
The Dodgers, who are the defending World Series champions, will now face the Philadelphia Phillies, with Game 1 of that series set for Saturday night in the City of Brotherly Love.
“I know we can win the whole thing,” Betts told reporters after Game 2. “We just have to play good baseball.
“We’ve just got to continue to pitch, timely hitting and play defense, and everything should be OK.”
While the night ended in victory for the Dodgers, it hadn’t always looked to be going their way.
The Reds raced into a 2-0 lead in the first inning, courtesy of some sloppy play from the Dodgers.
But Betts, who has endured a difficult season up until this point, hit three doubles on the night to help overhaul the result and continue the Dodgers on a path to a World Series repeat.
“Just happy I can help the boys win and contribute,” Betts added. “It’s better late than never.
“I went through arguably one of the worst years of my career, but I think it really made me mentally tough. So now there’s just a different level of focus. It’s not really on myself, it’s more on winning the game.”
Yankees force do-or-die Game 3
Elsewhere, the New York Yankees forced Game 3 against the Boston Red Sox with a 4-3 victory in the second game of the American League (AL) Wild Card series.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was benched for the opener, showed the Yankees what they had been missing by helping his team to a 4-3 victory.
Chisholm Jr., who was clearly frustrated by his omission in Game 1, not only delivered an impressive defensive performance on the night, but also demonstrated athleticism around the bases.
The highlight was when the 27-year-old scored from first on Austin Wells’ go-ahead hit in the bottom of the eighth, sprinting around the bases at incredible speed before diving headfirst to beat the throw at home plate. He was clocked at 9.16 seconds from first to home, according to MLB.com.
“What do you expect? The guy is a game-changer,” said Yankees captain Aaron Judge.
“It just shows you the maturity, to take what happened the day before and bring it into today’s game. He showed up ready to play today and ended up having the biggest plays for us throughout the night.”
Ben Rice also hit a two-run homer in the first inning and had two hits in his postseason debut to help the Bronx Bombers to victory.
Game 3 will take place in New York on Thursday.
In Wednesday’s other games, the San Diego Padres drew level in their series with the Chicago Cubs after a 3-0 win. Elsewhere, the Cleveland Guardians forced their AL Wild Card series against the Detroit Tigers to a deciding game after winning 6-1 in Game 2.
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