Mets routed again as Dodgers claim NLCS Game 3, take 2-1 series lead
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor reacts after striking out swinging to end the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Inning after inning, swing after swing, the Mets’ fly balls kept dying at the warning track Wednesday. And thus so did their hopes in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series.
The Mets lost to the Dodgers, 8-0, on a night of almosts that became a blowout at Citi Field.
Pete Alonso almost tied the score in the third inning with a would-be home run, in-reality flyout to deep leftfield, seemingly knocked down by a strong wind blowing in all game. Mark Vientos almost woke up the Queens crowd in the fifth with a shot to centerfield that carried far enough to get over the wall — had this game been at Dodger Stadium. Jose Iglesias almost beat out his rally-squashing double play in the sixth, but Freddie Freeman’s nifty scoop ended the Mets’ last great chance.
Altogether, the mix of bad luck and bad hitting created another quiet night at the plate for the Mets, who were shut out for the second time in three games. They stranded eight runners on base, including six in the first three innings.
The Dodgers lead the best-of-seven, 2-1, heading into Game 4 on Thursday.
This one loomed large for both clubs, perhaps even more so than usual for Game 3 in a knotted series. The Mets now must contend with Los Angeles’ best two starting pitchers the next two nights: Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Thursday and Jack Flaherty on Friday. They will counter with Jose Quintana and a to-be-announced arm, perhaps Kodai Senga.
The Dodgers did not encounter the same offensive problems as the Mets. No. 9 hitter Enrique Hernandez eked a two-strike, two-out, two-run home run through the wind and over the leftfield wall against Reed Garrett in the sixth, doubling the Mets’ deficit. And Shohei Ohtani turned it into a blowout with a three-run shot — halfway up the second deck — just fair in rightfield against Tylor Megill in the eighth.
Ohtani’s blast sent many of the announced 43,883 in attendance headed for the exits.
Starting pitchers Luis Severino (4 2⁄3 innings, two runs, none earned) and Walker Buehler (four scoreless innings) similarly grinded into the middle of the game, each working into and out of several jams, fortunate their final lines weren’t uglier.
Los Angeles scored a pair of runs against Severino in the second, when he issued a leadoff walk to Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez hit a dribbler in front of the plate. The latter play was key. Catcher Francisco Alvarez fielded it and, instead of throwing to first for an easy out, fired to second to try to get the lead runner. The throw went into Muncy — an error on Alvarez — and everybody was safe.
Both runners went on to score. Will Smith bounced a ball off Severino’s glove; it was ruled an RBI single. Tommy Edman rocketed a line drive to the warning track in right-centerfield, where Tyrone Taylor (all-out sprinting from center) and Starling Marte (coming over from right) converged. A diving Taylor caught the ball as his left leg caught Marte’s ankle; it became a sacrifice fly.
The Mets turned two walks and Iglesias’ infield single into a bases-loaded, one-out change in the second. But Buehler wiggled out by striking out Alvarez (looking) and Francisco Lindor (swinging at a knuckle-curve).
The Dodgers, likewise, blew a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity in the next half-inning. Hernandez’s lineout to third and Gavin Lux’s groundout allowed Severino to escape.
The Mets made one lineup change for Game 3, inserting J.D. Martinez at DH over Jesse Winker.
Even though Winker’s sweet spot has been batting against righties, such as Buehler, the Mets rolled with Martinez because Buehler is “fairly neutral,” manager Carlos Mendoza said, no matter which side of the plate the batter is on.
Martinez went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts and two walks.
“And J.D. is a really good hitter,” Mendoza said before the game. “He’s a big reason why we’re where we’re at now. We’re going to need him. And I thought today was a good match-up for him.”
Notably still in the lineup were Iglesias and Alvarez, both of whom have been relatively quiet at the plate lately. Although Mendoza has not been eager to play backup catcher Luis Torrens in place of Alvarez, the Mets do have their actual starting second baseman for most of the year, Jeff McNeil, on the roster.
Mendoza said “there’s always consideration” to playing McNeil, who flied out in a pinch-hit appearance for Taylor in the seventh.
“I’m looking at everything,” Mendoza said. “I’ve got 12, 13 guys on the roster that could easily be in the lineup. So I’m looking at previous match-ups, I’m looking at projections, I’m looking at pitch types and where we’re at. So Jeff is going to play a big role, but I just like Iglesias in there today and go from there.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
