Dodgers advance to the National League Divisional Series

Mookie Betts (YouTube)

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the first team from the four first round playoff series to advance to a Divisional Series. On Wednesday, the Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 at Dodger Stadium to win the best out of five National League Wildcard Series two games to none. They will next play the Philadelphia Phillies.

After we saw home run prowess from Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez in game one on Tuesday in a dominant 10-5 Los Angeles win, the offensive skill continued in game two. This time the Dodgers offensive leader was shortstop Mookie Betts of Nashville, Tennessee. Betts had four hits, of which three were doubles.

Betts was very disappointed with how his season went for most of the regular season as he only batted .258, the lowest batting average of his career. However, in the playoffs, Betts now has a .667 batting average as he scorched Reds pitching with six hits in nine at bats over two games.

Meanwhile, there are three game threes on Thursday as the teams are tied at one game apiece. The Cleveland Guardians evened their American League Wildcard Series at one after beating the Detroit Tigers 6-1. Guardians catcher Bo Naylor of Mississauga, Ontario hit a three-run dinger in the eighth inning.  At Yankee Stadium, the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 thanks to a game-winning RBI single by catcher Austin Wells of Scottsdale, Arizona, which scored shortstop Jazz Chisholm Jr. of Nassau, Bahamas with two out in the eighth inning. In the National League, the San Diego Padres are now even in their series with the Chicago Cubs after a game two 3-0 win. Third baseman Manny Machado of Hialeah, Florida hit a two-run home run that scored right fielder Fernando Tatis of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, and the Padres pitchers limited the Cubs to only four hits.