The Los Angeles Dodgers take a 2-1 NLCS lead after a dominant shutout in Game 3 against the New York Mets

CNN
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The Los Angeles Dodgers earned a commanding 8-0 victory over the New York Mets to take a 2-1 lead in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) on Wednesday.

Powered by home runs from Shohei Ohtani and Kiké Hernández, the Dodgers are now two wins away from advancing to the team’s first World Series appearance since 2020, when they won the seventh title in franchise history.

After a scoreless first inning, the Dodgers jumped on Mets starting pitcher Luis Severino in the second inning.

Dodgers catcher Will Smith opened the scoring with an infield single that allowed Max Muncy to score. Los Angeles would add another run with a sacrifice fly by Tommy Edman, but a miraculous sliding catch by Mets outfielder Tyrone Taylor limited the damage to a 2-0 deficit.

In the bottom of the inning, the Mets loaded the bases after Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler struggled with his command. However, the two-time All-Star singled out catcher Francisco Álvarez and shortstop Francisco Lindor to make it a 2-0 game.

It remained a 2-0 game until Hernández hit a two-run home run in the sixth and spiced things up by waving to a silent crowd at Citi Field.

With the Mets’ offense still sputtering and the bullpen strained, Dodgers phenom Ohtani caused even more trouble in the eighth inning.

The Dodgers slugger hit a 410-foot, 3-run home run into the second deck in right field to give Los Angeles a 7-0 lead.

Third baseman Max Muncy would hit his 13th career postseason home run in the ninth inning to score another run.

The win gives the Dodgers their fourth shutout win in their last five games.

The team got off to an impressive start in the NLCS, tying the Baltimore Orioles’ 1966 record of 33 consecutive scoreless innings. The record was broken in the first inning of the team’s Game 2 loss after Lindor hit a solo home run.

Hernández, who has a knack for arriving at the brightest lights, said he “imagines” he will succeed in any situation he can imagine.

“I visualize a lot at night, the night before games, and I try to put myself in every position and every situation that you can think of during the game,” Hernández told reporters after the game.

“I envision myself consistently having success against the entire pitching staff and things like that. But also the fact that I had a pretty good track record in October. I can’t help but give myself confidence. And it just makes you believe that you are taking your game to a new level. I try to take it game by game and I’m glad I was able to contribute to the win tonight.”

Buehler went four innings, striking out six batters and allowing just three hits, while the Dodgers’ bullpen gave up just one hit in five innings.

After the game, Buehler spoke about how his game has evolved since the numerous injuries he has suffered over the past few years.

“Honestly, the one thing I’ve been proud of over the last few months has been trying to go deep in games and be efficient. Just throwing four innings is the exact opposite of that,” Buehler said. “But I’m proud for another reason that I’ve gotten through some big and difficult patches.

“But it’s just one of those things that I don’t want to give in to, especially in the playoffs, and sometimes that leads to you having problems with pitch count or letting more people walk than you normally would. But this game in October is about getting clean sheets and I’m proud that I managed to do that four times.”

Game 4 of the NLCS is scheduled for Thursday at 8:08 p.m. ET.