For Dodgers, ‘it’s World Series or bust’

Best record in the majors. Best mark at home in the National League. Most home runs in the majors. Best bullpen ERA in the NL. The Dodgers have checked nearly every box on the way to their eighth straight postseason appearance.

Now if they could just do something about that 32-year drought in winning a championship.

“It’s World Series or bust every year,” manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday.

With Mookie Betts in the fold, the Dodgers are poised for a new challenge in the postseason, starting with Game 1 on Wednesday in their best-of-three playoff series against the Brewers.

The Dodgers rolled through the shortened 60-game season with a 43-17 mark (21-9 at home) and slugged 118 homers.

Betts was as good as advertised in his first season with the Dodgers, hitting 16 HRs at the top of the order. He led the team in stolen bases (10).

“With Mookie at the top kind of setting that tone, it just has that trickle down effect,” third baseman Justin Turner said. “Our entire order takes pride in grinding out at-bats and making guys work. We have a lot of guys that can hurt you with one swing.”

The eighth-seeded Brewers take on the Dodgers in the wild-card round, having advanced to their third straight postseason appearance for the first time in franchise history.

The Brewers reached the 2018 NLCS, losing to the Dodgers in seven games. It’s the only other time the teams have met in the postseason. They haven’t faced each other since the 2019 season.

The Dodgers lost back-to-back World Series appearances in 2017 and 2018; they were eliminated in five games by the Nationals in last year’s NLDS.

As good as the Dodgers have been, the Brewers never got above .500 all season and finished with a losing mark of 29-31, getting into the postseason thanks to holding a tiebreaker over the Giants.

Roberts believes the Dodgers can overcome whatever the Brewers throw at them.

“You got to expect anything — the gamesmanship, getting the lineup late or throwing a pitcher for a hitter or going to the ’pen,” he said. “We can sort of combat anything.”

Snell stellar in Rays win: Blake Snell took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and the top-seeded Rays opened the playoffs Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Manuel Margot hit a two-run homer and Randy Arozarena tripled and scored on a wild pitch to give Snell and a dominant Rays bullpen all the offensive support needed to begin the best-of-three wild-card matchup.

The AL East champion Rays will try to advance Wednesday in Game 2 at Tropicana Field.

Snell allowed just two baserunners until Alejandro Kirk singled leading off the sixth. The 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner allowed one hit and struck out nine — tying a club postseason record — in 52⁄ innings.

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Diego Castillo, Nick Anderson and Pete Fairbanks followed Snell, limiting the Blue Jays to two singles, two doubles and Bo Bichette’s eighthinning sacrifice fly the rest of the way.

Yankees roll: Aaron Judge smashed a two-run homer on Shane Bieber’s fourth pitch, Gerrit Cole struck out 13 and the Yankees opened the AL playoffs with a resounding 12-3 win over the Indians in Cleveland.

Judge and the rest of the Yankees hitters hadn’t faced Bieber, the best pitcher during the regular season, in 2020, but they were well prepared and took some meaty cuts against the 25-year-old ace, who gave up season highs in runs (seven) and hits (nine) over 42⁄ innings.

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The best-of-three series continues Wednesday.