The stars are out for the 2024 National League Championship Series, as Shohei Ohtani’s Dodgers battle Francisco Lindor’s Mets for the NL pennant.
The Mets continue their improbable run, surging into the NLCS for the first time in nine years. New York vanquished a pair of division winners — the Brewers and Phillies — and will now look to topple a third.
In Wednesday’s clincher, Lindor smashed a go-ahead grand slam off Phillies closer Carlos Estevez, sending Citi Field into a frenzy. Through two rounds, furious late-game rallies have become New York’s bread and butter.
The Dodgers are on their way to the NLCS for the first time since 2021 after erasing a 2-1 series deficit to down the Padres. Los Angeles’s pitching proved sterling, hurling back-to-back shutouts in Game 4 and Game 5, with 14 of the 18 scoreless innings courtesy of the bullpen.
Ohtani’s maiden voyage in the postseason has featured a mammoth home run but not much else; Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez have instead carried the freight, with two home runs apiece.