Dodgers rolling in defense of World Series title after closing out Phillies to reach NLCS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers are on track to be the first repeat World Series champions in a quarter century, helped along by superb starting pitching, a flame-throwing rookie in the bullpen and strong defense.

They were swigging and spraying from bottles with — oops — NLCS on the labels while partying in the team’s batting cage after a wild 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in 11 innings on Thursday night.

“We’re going to find a way to win a ballgame even when things aren’t going our way,” utility player Kiké Hernández said.

NL West champion Los Angeles took the best-of-five NL Division Series 3-1 and will play either the NL Central-winning Milwaukee Brewers or runner-up Chicago Cubs in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series that starts Monday. Those teams play a decisive Game 5 on Saturday in Milwaukee.

The Dodgers dropped four of seven to the Cubs during the regular season. The Brewers swept their six games with the Dodgers, outscoring them 31-16 while holding Los Angeles to two or fewer runs in four of those games.

No matter who’s up next, the Dodgers are rolling at the right time, winning five of their first six postseason games. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow lead a stellar rotation. Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is a candidate to start on the mound in Game 1 of the NLCS.

“The whole pitching staff, we don’t win this series if it wasn’t for them,” Hernández said.

The defense is helping, too.

The Dodgers made a couple of clutch defensive plays during a 4-3 win in Game 2 against the Phillies.

Freddie Freeman had a game-saving pick at first base and they successfully executed a defensive wheel play with the Phillies threatening.

With Nick Castellanos on second, third baseman Max Muncy rushed home plate to field a bunt by Bryson Stott, turned and perfectly threw to shortstop Mookie Betts, who was covering third. Betts got the out while being upended by a sliding Castellanos.

Rookie Roki Sasaki delivered three perfect innings of relief in the finale. The right-hander has allowed just one baserunner over 5 1/3 scoreless playoff innings after returning late last month from a long-term shoulder injury.

“It’s a massive weapon for us this whole postseason now,” Freeman said.

Ohtani and Freeman have not been so great at the plate. They’ll need to jump-start their offense in the next round.

Ohtani had a franchise-record 55 homers — second-best in the NL — in the regular season. He homered twice in the wild-card round against Cincinnati, but has gone silent since. He was 1 for 18 with nine strikeouts in the NLDS, going 0 for 5 in Game 3.

Freeman hit .295 during the season — third-best in the NL — and had 39 doubles and 24 homers. He was 1 for 5 on Thursday, extending his postseason on-base streak to 11 games with a single.

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