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Dodgers win 2nd straight NL pennant, will meet Red Sox in World Series

Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images Sport / Getty

For the second straight season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are kings of the National League.

The Dodgers booked their ticket to the World Series on Saturday night, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series to win their second consecutive pennant. It's the franchise's 23rd NL crown since joining the league in 1890, tying the San Francisco Giants for the most in NL history.

This also marks the fifth time the Dodgers have won back-to-back pennants. They last did it in 1977 and '78; in both of those years, they lost the World Series to the New York Yankees.

Cody Bellinger - who was named NLCS MVP - put the Dodgers on top of Milwaukee for good with a two-run homer in the second inning, and Chris Taylor preserved the lead three innings later by making a fantastic catch in left field to rob Christian Yelich of a game-tying RBI. Yasiel Puig then put the exclamation point on the victory with a long three-run homer in the sixth.

Young right-hander Walker Buehler tossed 4 2/3 innings before a variety of relief pitchers took over and shut the Brewers down. Staff ace Clayton Kershaw pitched a flawless ninth inning to clinch the pennant.

For the Brewers, the loss marks the end to a season that saw them win an NL-best 96 games. They're still searching for their first-ever World Series title and first league championship since winning the AL pennant in 1982. The city of Milwaukee hasn't won a World Series since the Braves did so in 1957.

Los Angeles will now face the AL champion Boston Red Sox in the World Series, beginning Tuesday night at Fenway Park. These two historic franchises last met in the World Series 102 years ago, when the Red Sox, powered by an epic pitching performance from Babe Ruth, defeated the Dodgers - then known as the Brooklyn Robins - in five games.

The Dodgers are aiming to end a 30-year championship drought and win what would be their seventh World Series title.

Boston, meanwhile, is gunning for its ninth championship, and fourth of this century. The Red Sox last won in 2013.

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