The NLCS has so far gone Dodgers blowout, Mets blowout, Dodgers blowout. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the NLCS on Wednesday with a dominant 8-0 win, starting with a scoreless start by Walker Buehler and ending, for all intents and purposes, with a towering homer by Shohei Ohtani.
After dominating in Game 1 and having that reversed in Game 2, the Dodgers showed their earlier form. Buehler wasn’t efficient with 90 pitches in only four innings of work, but he proved elusive for the Mets with 18 swinging strikes. After that, the Dodgers bullpen did its thing.
The Dodgers have now thrown shutouts in four of their past five games,
Meanwhile, the offense hit early with a two-run rally in the second inning and hit hard in the eighth inning, when Ohtani continued his wild run of being anemic with the bases empty (0-for-22 with 11 strikeouts) and a steamroller with runners on base (7-for-9 with two homers). His three-run homer put the Dodgers up 7-0 and allowed the team to rest its remaining late-inning arms for the eighth and ninth innings.
KikĂŠ HernĂĄndez also contributed his 15th career postseason homer, which moves him into a tie for 18th all-time. Later, Max Muncy clobbered his 13th postseason homer, tying Corey Seager and Justin Turner for the Dodgers’ all-time lead (HernĂĄndez hit five of his with the Boston Red Sox).
The Mets will now try to keep pace in Game 4, with Jose Quintana scheduled to face Yoshinobu Yamamoto at Citi Field at 8:08 p.m. ET.
Here’s how it all went down on Yahoo Sports:
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FINAL: Dodgers 8, Mets 0
Ben Casparius completes the Dodgers’ fourth shutout in five games, and this one is an 8-0 blowout to take a 2-1 lead in Game 3. Shohei Ohtani, KikĂŠ HernĂĄndez and Max Muncy all homered. Walker Buehler did what was needed.
It will be Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Jose Quintana in Game 4.
Dodgers 8, Mets 0
Max Muncy absolutely clobbers a homer, and it’s now 8-0 Dodgers. He knew right away where it was going.
That moves Muncy into a tie with Corey Seager and Justin Turner for the Dodgers’ all-time postseason home run lead, with 13 long balls.
Casparius works around a walk of Brandon Nimmo to keep the Mets scoreless. The Dodgers will go for their fourth shutout in their past five games in the ninth.
A significant consequence of Ohtani busting this game open: The Dodgers don’t have to use their remaining top arms, such as Daniel Hudson and Evan Phillips, against the heart of the Mets order. Instead, Ben Casparius enters for the eighth and possibly ninth inning.
Ohtani with the bases empty this postseason: 0-for-22 with 11 Ks.
Ohtani with runners on base this postseason: 7-for-9 with two homers.
Dodgers 7, Mets 0
This is uncanny. Ohtani was hitless in his first four plate appearances with the bases empty, then he comes to the plate with two on and clubs a three-run homer â 116 mph off the bat, 410 feet, just over the right-field foul pole.
Daniel Hudson’s up for the eighth. Imagine that leaves Evan Phillips for the ninth tonight.
Treinen’s seventh inning: 11 pitches, 10 strikes, two strikeouts (one a three-pitch K of Lindor), no baserunners. He is scary when he’s hitting his spots, and he has been doing that a lot this postseason. The question now is if he stays in to face Vientos before the lefty Nimmo.
Treinen is a curious pick here. He’s arguably the Dodgers’ top arm out of the bullpen, and they deploy him with only one of the Mets’ big bats (Lindor) due up. It’s possible they’ve scheduled him to stay up to Lindor and Vientos and make sure those two are disconnected from the 3-4-5 of the Mets order, but the Dodgers are once again mixing things up with their bullpen.
Tylor Megill gets out of another two-on jam to keep the Mets within a grand slam of the Dodgers. It’ll be 8-9-1 in the bottom of the seventh against Blake Treinen as the Dodgers prepare for the last pass through the heart of the Mets order.
Chris Taylor also comes in to replace Gavin Lux at second base.
The jokes are too easy with Iglesias’ “OMG” anthem.
Ryan Brasier runs into trouble with two baserunners on and one out, but he escapes with a double play off the bat of Jose Iglesias. The Mets are down four runs with nine outs to work with.
Anthony Banda is up as Ryan Brasier strikes out Pete Alonso to lead off the sixth.
Postseason KikĂŠ HernĂĄndez strikes again. On a 1-2 count with two outs, the Dodgers’ No. 9 hitter takes Reed Garrett deep to double the L.A. lead.
And now Shohei Ohtani reaches the plate with the bases empty for his fourth at-bat today.
The Dodgers bring in one of their top relief arms in Michael Kopech to face the top of the Mets order, and he goes 1-2-3 in the fifth â but with a couple of fly balls to the warning track by Lindor and Vientos.
Still 2-0 Dodgers, and the Mets have four innings to change that.
Garrett gets Hernandez swinging to end the inning scoreless. Severino’s final line: 4 2/3 innings, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 4 BB, 3 K, 95 pitches.
Luis Severino walks Max Muncy, and that will do it for him. The Mets bring in Reed Garrett to face Teoscar Hernandez with two on and two outs.
All in all, a solid start for Severino, considering the Mets defense (including his) did him few favors in the second inning.
Whoa. Francisco Lindor makes an incredible play to steal a hit from Mookie Betts. Add it to his already long postseason highlight reel.
Buehler posts a 1-2-3 inning, and that will likely do it for him after four scoreless inning and 90 pitches. His command was off, and he got into trouble a few times, but the Dodgers will take that, given how he has looked in other games.
It’s still 2-0 Dodgers through four in New York.
#Dodgers Dave Roberts on FOX broadcast says Walker Buehler is “grinding” and he’s “just trying to squeeze out 3 more hitters.” Look for Michael Kopech when it gets back to top of Mets lineup
Luis Severino works a low-stress fourth to keep it 2-0. Pitch counts are significant right now, with Severino at 79 through four and Buehler at 73 through three. With three games in three days, this is an important day for bullpen preservation.
Walker Buehler works around a couple of baserunners to post a scoreless third. He is the biggest X-factor of this game and possibly the whole series, and he is succeeding so far.
Severino loads the bases but gets out of the jam with a soft lineout by Teoscar Hernandez and a groundout from Gavin Lux. It’s still 2-0 Dodgers, and it could have been much worse.
Luis Severino opens the third by walking Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, and the Dodgers are threatening again with no outs. Severino gets a visit from the pitching coach.
The biggest at-bat of the game (so far) ends with Francisco Lindor striking out with the bases loaded. A huge relief for Walker Buehler, and it’s still 2-0 Dodgers.
And now a walk of Tyrone Taylor to load the bases. Buehler melted down under similar circumstances in the second inning of his NLDS start. We’ll see if this one goes south, too.
And now the Mets are threatening after a defensive misplay by the Dodgers. Tommy Edman bobbles a potential double-play ball, then loses it again on the bounce to give New York two on with one out.
Dodgers 2, Mets 0
Tyrone Taylor makes an incredible play at the warning track â while narrowly avoiding disaster on a collision with Starling Marte â to rob Tommy Edman of extra bases.
However, the runner from third still scores, so the Dodgers get another run.
Dodgers 1, Mets 0
On a nine-pitch at-bat, Will Smith fights back from down 0-2 and scores a run on a comebacker to Severino. The Dodgers haven’t hit it out of the infield this inning, but they now have the lead.
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez gets a little too aggressive there. Teoscar Hernandez hit a swinging bunt, and Alvarez tried to throw out Max Muncy, who walked, at second rather than taking the easy out at first, but the throw was off.
Both runners are safe, and now the Dodgers have two on with none out.
Walker Buehler responds with a scoreless first inning, with a two-out infield single from Brandon Nimmo providing the first hit of the game. Buehler looked good in the first inning of his last start against the Padres before it all went south, though.
Luis Severino gets through the vaunted top of the Dodgers lineup with a 1-2-3 first inning, with strikeouts of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman (though the last strike on Betts would have been ball 4 with a robo ump). We call that a good start.
Mets starting pitcher Luis Severino fires a fastball to Shohei Ohtani, who grounds out to first, and we’re off in Game 3 of the 2024 NLCS.
Darryl Strawberry throwing out the first pitch to Doc Gooden — NLCS Game 3
It will be Luis Severino vs. Walker Buehler in the pitching battle.
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