THE DODGERS are the 2024 National League champions and will face the New York Yankees on Friday in the first game of the World Series (Shutterstock).

Now, it’s on to the final challenge.

The Los Angeles Dodgers jumped out to a 6-0 lead and went on to defeat the New York Mets 10-5 in Game Six of the National League Championship series on Sunday and launch them into the 2024 World Series on Friday against the New York Yankees.

TOMMY EDMAN

It’ll be the 12th time in 41 years these two teams have met in the finals of the Fall Classic.

When the Mets closed to within 6-4, the Dodgers responded with one run in the sixth and three in the eighth to pull away to the delight of the capacity crowd at Dodger Stadium.

The Mets postponed their demise with one run in the top of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.

The Blue Crew got home runs from Tommy Edman (named MVP of the NLCS) and Will Smith. Edman led the team with four RBIs.

Former Angel Shohei Ohtani was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, one walk and and an RBI. He struck out once.

Conflict continues  between Israel and foes

The war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon continued this weekend and threatened to be widened and extended.

BADGE of Israeli Defense Forces.

According to the Associated Press, Israel is reported to have made strikes into southern areas in Beirut where Hezbollah has a “strong presence.” The Lebanese army claims that three of its soldiers were killed.

Israel states that its forces – using missiles, drones and jet planes – hit over 100 Hezbollah “targets” and is continuing operations on the ground.

At the same time, the prospect of a “catastrophic” public health situation in Gaza is being raised as more air strikes by Israel into that Hamas-stronghold add to the casualty tool in the area.

Accusations have been raised about Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza. Israel has denied that claim.

Candidates visit swing states

The Democratic and Republican candidates for president focused attention Sunday on the key “swing states” of Michigan and Georgia. Former president Donald Trump manned the fry station at a McDonald’s in the Keystone State and a drive-through press conference.

Vice President Kamala Harris visited two predominately Black churches in the Peach State and legendary singer Stevie Wonder led the congregation in song and urged them to vote, after the service congregants were bused to the polls.

The election remains very tight. An average of national polls shows Harris ahead by 1.8 percent, but the winner is the one to get the 270 Electoral College votes.

Races in the swing states considered “too close to call” are in Wisconsin, Michigan Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Nevada.

Sports: Rams beat Raiders for 2nd win

SEAN McVAY was  happy (Brevin Townsell/LA Rams).

Keeping playoff hopes alive, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 20-15 at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

“Every [winning] streak starts with one,” say Head Coach Sean McVay.

The Rams (2-4) parlayed two interceptions into touchdowns and held enough on third down to force the Raiders to settle for five field goals.

Kyren Williams rushed for 76 yards and two TDs on 21 carries. QB Matthew Stafford had a quiet night. He completed 14 of 23 passes for 154 yards and was intercepted twice.

The Rams built a 20-6 lead after three quarters and limited the Raiders to two fourth quarter kicks.

Sports: Ducks fly to the top

OREGON is number one in AP Top 25 (Disney).

The new top … duck … in the AP College Football Top 25 is the University of Oregon Ducks. They soared to number one after a week in which several top 10 teams suffered losses.

Oregon (7-0) is the new leader moving up from second

Georgia (6-1) is second after defeating Texas 30-15. In third place is Penn State (6-0), followed by Ohio State (5-1) in fourth, Texas (6-1) in fifth, Miami (7-0) in sixth, Tennessee (6-1) in seventh, LSU (6-1) in eighth, Clemson (6-1) in ninth and Iowa State (7-0) in 10th.

USC and UCLA are unranked and received no votes.

Weather: Back to the Seventies

If you’re nostalgic for the 70s – the temperatures, not the decade – you’re in luck. After a couple of days with the 80s as daytime highs, the 70s will return for Wednesday and Thursday in our West Orange County cities.

The forecast for Monday is for a daytime high of 83 with an overnight low of 56 and partly cloudy skies. Tuesday is expected to be 81 (58) with sunshine. Wednesday will see a dip to 79 (59) and Thursday to 77 (57), both under partly cloudy skies.