NEW YORK –

In the middle of election season, Los Angeles' favorite candidate conveniently pushed his opponent just past the breaking point.

I'm calling the National League…for the Dodgers.

I'm calling the Dodgers a spot in the World Series.

The poll isn't closed yet, but it's happening, a deal done, a deadly lockout, prepare for tickets, plan parties, spread the word, the Dodgers will advance to their fourth World Series in eight seasons, it is just a matter of time.

Guaranteed.

After a 10-2 victory over the New York Mets in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday night at Citi Field, the Dodgers had a virtually insurmountable three-games-to-one lead.

It's over. The Mets are as messed up as their roasted pitching. They are as exhausted as their fleeing fan base. They probably shouldn't have been here in the first place, and soon they'll be in the Dodgers' rearview mirror along with the San Diego Padres, postseason victims of a very different postseason Dodger team.

The World Series is almost upon us, whether it's won here in Game 5 on Friday night or at Dodger Stadium next week, it happens, the Dodgers win another game against a Mets team that has already given up.

All that's left is the champagne and the craziness, and here's a guess that will take place on Friday, with ace Jack Flaherty on the mound and visions of impending greatness in the air.

“We’re close,” Tommy Edman said. “We can feel it.”

Shohei Ohtani, who hit a home run on Thursday, wants it to happen now.

“We played good baseball in enemy territory yesterday and today, and I would like to connect that to tomorrow,” Ohtani said in Japanese. “I want us to feel like we’ll decide tomorrow.”

The Dodgers will not only advance to the World Series starting next week, but will also be big favorites to win against the inferior New York Yankees or the inferior Cleveland Guardians.

There hasn't been a Dodger team this complete since 2017, and they would have won that World Series if the Houston Astros hadn't cheated, so hide all the trash cans and let's go.

How good are these Dodgers? They dominated Thursday night with essentially their “B” team, Freddie Freeman and Gavin Lux out, Chris Taylor playing second base and Edman batting in cleanup.

They won with a second straight impressive performance from NLDS winner Yoshinobu Yamamoto, with Ohtani being Ohtani and everyone else cheering and jabbing and creating, as the Dodgers do.

“At a time like this … you just have to jump on the roller coaster and enjoy the ride,” said Mookie Betts, who had one home run among four hits and four RBIs.

And, oh yeah, Max Muncy walked three times and hit a single to extend his streak on base to a single postseason-record 12 consecutive plate appearances.

Think about it. This Muncy guy is setting records and isn't even one of the top four hitters on the team.

“It’s 0-0 right now,” Muncy said, refusing to give in to the hype. “We will perform tomorrow as if it were a 0-0 series. We have to prepare properly, do everything right and play our game. Go out there and try to get a win tomorrow.”

The main attraction, of course, is Ohtani, who set the tone after just two pitches in this game, breaking out of his strange recent slump with his first hit in 22 at-bats with the bases empty—and boy, what a breakout. It was a 422-foot home run over the right-center field fence. The ball was officially traveling at 118 miles per hour, but like most of his big hits, it looked like it was traveling 1,000 miles per hour.

After the Mets briefly tied the game in the bottom of the first with a Mark Vientos home run – hey, at least they scored! – The Dodgers soon found a way to break this impasse forever.

An unlikely and expected hero did so in the third inning. Edman, making just his third cleanup attempt this season, scored on a double to left off an earlier run by Ohtani. Then Kiké Hernández, who has been doing this all October, took off diving shortstop Lindor's glove for another run.

Think about something else. The Dodgers spent more than $1 billion signing talent this offseason, but two guys who fueled their fire in one of the biggest games of the season on Thursday were an underrated acquisition at the trade deadline and a spring training signing .

Particularly impressive is Edman, who could quietly steal the NLCS MVP award as he is batting .412 with seven RBI.

“I haven't done cleanup much in my life, and to do it in this lineup is pretty crazy,” Edman said. “I've always dreamed of this. I’ve never had the chance to play in a World Series and we’re really excited to be just one game away.”

After spending his career in St. Louis, Edman has clearly embraced the Dodgers culture.

“The thing that sets this team apart is just the experience, and I think everyone just has a very calm and cool demeanor,” he said. “The moment isn’t really too big for anyone. I think it definitely helps to have a lot of people who have been there in big moments to be able to perform in those situations.”

Such situations have occurred frequently in the first four games, and while the Dodgers have actually had a great performance, the Mets have faltered.

The Mets trailed early Thursday and were never really able to fight back. They loaded the bases with fewer than two outs in two of the first six innings but were only able to yield one run, including three Mets hitters retired by Evan Phillips and Blake Treinen to score three in the sixth inning.

As the Dodgers piled up their runs – once again – the Mets increasingly made quick swings out of the batter's box and offered little resistance with haphazard pitching.

In the first four games of this series, the Dodgers have outscored the Mets 30-9, and it didn't feel that close. Perhaps even more impressive, Dodgers hitters drew an LCS-record 31 walks through four games, while baseball's Goliaths achieved death by a thousand cuts.

“As we continue to prepare for a World Series run, we're just going to ride that wave until we get there,” Phillips said.

The wave is almost home. It crashes against the rocks of doubt and overcomes the sands of history.

“I think we did a good job putting ourselves in that position,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I kind of like the us-against-the-world attitude that our guys have taken. I think it’s kind of ironic with the Dodgers, but I like that.”

In this equation they are usually the world. But something happened to them last week when the world mocked them after they were just one game away from elimination in the NLDS against the Padres. They found anger. They found a chip. They found each other.

And soon, very soon, they will find the 120th World Series.