LOS ANGELES – Tommy Edman and Will Smith sent Shohei Ohtani to his first World Series trip with a home run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets with a 10-5 victory in Game 6 of NL Championship Series night on Sunday.

The Dodgers captured their record-tying 25th NL pennant and first at home since 1988 when they defeated the Mets in seven games. They advanced to their 22nd World Series — the 13th in Los Angeles — and first since 2020, when they beat Tampa Bay during the pandemic-delayed season.

Next up for Ohtani and Co. is Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees, who are in the World Series for the 41st time and first in 15 years. Game 1 is Friday at Dodger Stadium and features Judge (58) and Ohtani (54) – MLB’s leading home run hitters this season.

“It’s kind of what people wanted, what we all wanted,” Dodgers star Mookie Betts said. “It will be a battle between two good teams, many long flights across the country.”

It will be the twelfth time the storied franchises have met in the World Series and the first in 43 years. The Yankees have beaten the Dodgers eight times, while the Dodgers won three championships against the Bronx Bombers in 1955, 1963 and 1981.

“It’s the place I’ve dreamed of my whole life,” Ohtani said through a translator, “and it’s my next goal to finally get on that stage, play there and hopefully win.”

Ohtani, playing his first season with the Dodgers after agreeing to a record-breaking contract in free agency, had two hits and scored two runs in Game 6. He posted a .364 batting average with two home runs and six RBI in the NLCS.

Not bad for his first postseason after spending six years with the Los Angeles Angels, who never had a winning record or made the playoffs during his tenure.

Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen struck out Brandon Nimmo, Mark Vientos and Pete Alonso in the eighth in his first two-inning game since the 2021 NLCS.

The Dodgers briefly trailed 1-0 before cleanup hitter Edman came up big.

He drove in the Dodgers’ first four runs and his 11 RBI in the NLCS tied a franchise record set by Corey Seager against Atlanta in 2020. Edman, who won the NLCS MVP award, was traded from St. Louis to the Dodgers at the July trade deadline.

The Dodgers eliminated the Mets on their second attempt in the series. They outscored New York 40-26 in the six games. None of the games were close, the Dodgers suffered two shutouts.

After a 22-33 start, the Mets were just two wins away from reaching the World Series.

The Dodgers led 2-1 in the first on Edman’s double to the left field corner off Sean Manaea, who scored Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández, who both singled. Hernández went 0-18 in the NLCS. Manaea needed 34 pitches to get through the first round.

Facing two hits in the third, Edman sent a 406-foot shot to left-center for a two-run drive. A walk to Max Muncy and two outs later, Smith hit a 416-foot home run off Phil Maton, extending the lead to 6-1.

The Mets cut their deficit to 6-3 in the fourth. With two outs, Vientos hit a two-run home run – his fifth of the postseason – off Ryan Brasier. Vientos’ first career grand slam marked the Mets’ series-tying victory in Game 2 at Dodger Stadium.

New York twice failed to make money with the bases loaded. Trailing 6-3 in the sixth, Jesse Winker flied out Evan Phillips to end the inning. After a run in the third, the Mets loaded the bases against Anthony Banda, only for Jeff McNeil to retire with a swing strikeout.

A visibly motivated Michael Kopech opened the bullpen game for the Dodgers and his first career playoff start. He immediately gave Francisco Lindor a leadoff walk and then threw a wild pitch. With two outs, Alonso had a two-strike flare to second base and Lindor scored on a throwing error by second baseman Chris Taylor for a 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers, whose starting lineup was decimated by injuries, used seven pitchers to defeat the Mets, whose $332 million payroll was the highest in baseball.

Manaea lasted just two innings, allowing five runs and six hits. The left-hander struck out two and walked two. His overworked performance stunned the Dodgers in Game 2, when Manaea limited them to two earned runs over five innings, but they had no such problems on Sunday.

Alonso had two hits and a run scored in what could be his final game for the Mets. The first baseman is eligible for free agency after the World Series.

The Dodgers, eliminated in the Division Series the last two years, spent a combined $1 billion last winter to sign Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to lucrative long-term contracts in hopes of winning an eighth World Series title to win the franchise.

The sellout crowd of 52,674 included Tom Hanks, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Magic Johnson, Rob Lowe, Josh Groban, Jenny McCarthy and Vanessa Bryant.

TRAINER ROOM

Dodgers: 1B Freddie Freeman was sidelined for the third time of the postseason with a sprained right ankle. He also missed Game 4 of the NLCS and Game 4 of the NLDS.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb