Mets vs. Dodgers: Los Angeles ...

The Los Angeles Dodgers are headed back to the World Series.

With a 10-5 victory over the New York Mets in Game 6 on Sunday, L.A. advances to its fourth World Series in eight seasons and its first since winning it all in 2020. The Dodgers will face the New York Yankees, who dispatched the Cleveland Guardians in five games in the ALCS, in Game 1 on Friday.

Tommy Edman was named NLCS MVP after contributing four RBI in Game 6 and 11 total in this National League Championship Series against the Mets.

It didn’t seem like a great start for the Dodgers when opener Michael Kopech threw 25 pitches and gave up a run in the first, but Los Angeles’ pitching didn’t have to be elite — it just had to be better than New York’s. And it was. Fourteen total pitchers were used in the game, seven on each side, and Los Angeles' gamble of a bullpen game paid off.

The Mets struck first in the opening frame thanks to some heads-up baserunning, an infield single by Pete Alonso and a Dodgers throwing error, but their lead didn’t last long, with the Dodgers' offense attacking Mets starter Sean Manaea early. The lefty threw 34 pitches (21 strikes) in the first, giving up a two-run double to Tommy Edman.

Manaea made it only one more inning, and it was an uphill battle from there, as Mets pitchers continued to struggle against the Dodgers’ relentless offense. Edman continued his NLCS dominance with a two-run homer in the third, and Will Smith joined the party with a two-run bomb of his own just three batters later. Shohei Ohtani tacked on a run with an RBI single in the sixth, and RBI from Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández and Enrique Hernández in the eighth put the Dodgers into double digits.

Ohtani will play in his first World Series in his seventh season in MLB — and his first with the Dodgers after signing a monster, 10-year, $700 million contract in the offseason.

What better way for Ohtani to make his World Series debut than against Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and the Yankees? It has been 43 years since the last time the Dodgers and Yankees met in the Fall Classic, and the Dodgers won 4-2 in 1981.

Both teams should be well rested when the World Series begins on Friday in Los Angeles.