Los Angeles Dodgers take commanding 3-1 NLCS lead following blowout victory over New York Mets

By Jacob Lev, CNN

(CNN) — For the third time in four games, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bats proved to be alive and well.

The Dodgers blew out the New York Mets 10-2 on the road to take a commanding 3-1 National League Championship Series lead on Thursday night.

A raucous New York crowd packed into Citi Field, as members of the 2000 NL pennant team Edgardo Alfonzo and Robin Ventura threw out the first pitch.

However, that excitement quickly turned into silence as superstar Shohei Ohtani didn’t waste any time getting the Dodgers on the board, hitting a lead-off home run to quickly put the Mets in a hole.

It was the slugger’s second straight game with a homer and the first home run Mets starting pitcher Jose Quintana has given up since August 20.

Los Angeles’ lead didn’t last very long though as Mets third baseman responded with a solo shot of his own to tie the score at one in the bottom of the first inning.

In the top of the third, Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman – who has been hitting the cover off the baseball all series long – yet again came through clutch with an RBI double to take back the lead. Kiké Hernández would tack on another run to give Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.

Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo would ground into a fielder’s choice that would drive in a run but also made it two outs. The next batter, Starling Marte, would then ground out to end the inning and Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto would go on to limit the damage. The 26-year-old Japanese rookie phenom went 4.1 innings, striking out eight batters while only giving up two runs.

Just like all game, the Dodgers had a response to any run their counterparts would score. Mookie Betts doubled into left field, allowing Ohtani and Chris Taylor to score to extend the lead to 5-2. Betts would later add a two-run home run in the sixth inning to make it a 7-2 game.

The Mets had more chances to cut into the deficit but left the bases loaded again in the sixth inning.

It proved to be a historic night for the Dodgers’ Max Muncy. The 34-year-old extended his streak of consecutive postseason plate appearances safely reaching base to 12, tying Reggie Jackson for the most all-time. The streak, however, would come to an end in the eighth inning after a strikeout.

After the game, Muncy told the Fox Sports 1 broadcast that he “wasn’t aware” of the record he tied on Thursday.

“Thats pretty cool,” Muncy said. “The biggest thing for me is that means getting on base for my teammates, giving them a chance to drive me in and just creating traffic out there for the opposing team.

Los Angeles would add three runs in the eighth and pitcher Edgardo Henríquez closed out the game to secure the 10-2 victory and push the Mets to the brink of elimination.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Ohtani’s lead-off home run “set the tone” for game but downplayed that it lost them the game.

“The solo shot wasn’t going to beat us,” Mendoza told reporters. “Yeah, it was pretty impressive, but not only Ohtani, you have to take care of the other guys behind him.

“But, yeah, when he goes out there first at-bat of the game and hits it like that, obviously, it’s a good feeling for them. We knew that wasn’t going to beat us, but we couldn’t just stop it.”

The Dodgers are now one win away from advancing to the team’s first World Series appearance since 2020, when they won the seventh title in franchise history.

Betts said it’s hard to keep calm when the team is so close to reaching the Fall Classic.

“I think I’ve tried to manage those emotions many times. I think you just ride them. You just ride those emotions,” Betts said.

“It’s tough. Like I said, I’ve tried to stay even keeled and all those things. At a time like this, that doesn’t really work, so you’ve just got to jump on the roller coaster and enjoy the ride.”

Game 5 is scheduled for Friday at 5:08 p.m. ET.

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