Dodgers pitching, HR ball too much for Mets in NLCS Game 3

NEW YORK – Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers, capping their 8-0 victory over the New York Mets in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night.

Kiké Hernández hit a two-run pitch in the sixth inning to make it 4-0 and waved to the Citi Field crowd, which he silenced. Los Angeles rebounded from a home loss to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series by posting its fourth shutout in its last five playoff games.

Ohtani scored in the eighth, a 410-foot drive that rocketed into the second deck in right field and stayed just above the foul pole.

Max Muncy hit his 13th postseason home run in the ninth, tying Corey Seager and Justin Turner for the franchise record. Muncy also scored in Game 2.

An enthusiastic Walker Buehler struck out Francisco Lindor to load the bases in the second inning, and the Dodgers pitched five close innings from their hard-throwing bullpen. Buehler combined for a four-hitter with four relievers.

“I said before that I like pitching in the cold,” Buehler said. “The ball moved pretty well for me today. Will (Smith) did a really good job. Shutouts in the playoffs aren’t easy, and Will did a really good job.”

The Dodgers became the first team in major league history with three 8-run shutouts in a single postseason; They have all happened in the last five games. They also became the third team ever to post multiple eight-run shutouts in a single postseason series.

It was Buehler’s second scoreless start of the season and his first since May 18. Entering Game 3, he had made 14 consecutive starts, the longest streak of his career.

“He’s Walker,” Muncy said of Buehler. “There’s an expression for what that was tonight and of course I’m not going to say it. But that was Walker Buehler.”

“I expected that. He won’t give in for now. If anything, it will make him even tougher.”

Game 4 is Thursday night in Queens. $325 million rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto is scheduled to face veteran left-hander Jose Quintana in Los Angeles.

Michael Kopech earned the win with a fifth no-hitter, and the Dodgers pitchers finished the game with 13 strikeouts.

Mets starter Luis Severino fell 2-0 in the second, due in part to poor fielding. He did not allow an earned run but threw 95 pitches and walked four in 4 2/3 innings, earning the loss.

Smith scored a run on an infield single, and Tommy Edman had a sacrifice fly that could have been more if Tyrone Taylor hadn’t made a sensational catch on the warning track in right-center.

Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.