The Mets fell behind early due to some poor defense and couldn’t hit in the clutch as they lost 8-0 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLCS at Citi Field on Wednesday night.
The Mets now trail the series 2-1 with Game 4 on Thursday at Citi.
Here are the takeaways...
-The Mets had plenty of chances to make it a game in the early innings, loading the bases in the second, putting two runners on in the third and sixth, but couldn’t get the big hit.
Francisco Alvarez was the biggest culprit, striking out looking at a Walker Buehler fastball with the bases loaded and one out in the second, followed by Francisco Lindor striking out swinging at a 3-2 knucklecurve.
In the third, J.D. Martinez struck out swinging with two outs, leaving runners at first and second.
In the sixth Jose Iglesias, who has been so dependable in the clutch this season, grounded into a 5-4-3 double play with two runners on.
Alvarez wound up striking out in all three of his at-bats, each time looking. He is hitting .143 (5-for-35) in this postseason with 13 strikeouts.
-Shohei Ohtani broke the game open with a three-run home run in the seventh inning off Tylor Megill, smashing an 89-mph cutter that Megill didn’t get inside enough into the upper deck just inside the right field foul pole. That put LA ahead 7-0.
Luis Severino gave the Mets a solid start and might have had a scoreless outing if not for some poor defense, including his own, that helped the Dodgers to an early 2-0 lead on two unearned runs.
Severino was forced to work hard to get through the Dodgers’ lineup, and four walks helped elevate his pitch count quickly. When he allowed a two-out single to Freddie Freeman in the fifth, followed by a walk to Max Muncy, Severino was pulled at 95 pitches.
Reed Garrett came in to strike out Teoscar Hernandez and get out of the inning.
In the sixth Garrett threw a hanging splitter that Kiké Hernandez launched over the left-field wall for a two-run home run, giving the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.
-The Mets’ defense cost them in the second inning. Alvarez’s wide throw to second on a dribbler in front of the plate was an error that put runners at first and second with no outs.
Severino, a very good fielding pitcher who is a Gold Glove finalist, then failed to make a couple of plays that cost him. He bobbled Gavin Lux’s comebacker, and rather than turn it into a double play he had to settle for an out at first, putting runners at first and second with one out.
Will Smith then hit a ground ball to Severino’s right that he got a glove on but couldn’t field, as it trickled away for an RBI single.
Finally, Tommy Edman delivered the Dodgers’ second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center, but it could have been much more than that if not for Tyrone Taylor’s spectacular sliding catch in right-center near the wall.
-Buehler was coming off a sub-par season and a poor start in the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, but he managed to finesse his way through four scoreless innings for the Dodgers.
Buehler isn’t the power pitcher he once was, after a second Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss the 2023 season, but he kept the Mets off-balance with a variety of off-speed pitches. He didn’t record a strikeout last week against the Padres but got six Ks, two of them to end innings with two runners on base, mostly by fooling them with a 79-mph curve ball.
-Lindor made the play of the night, or co-play, along with Taylor. With one out in the fifth, Lindor picked a hard-hit liner from Mookie Betts on the short hop while sliding to his right, then did a reverse spin as he got to his feet and threw out the speedy Betts easily.
It was the type of excellent defense Lindor has played all season and more reason to make it hard to believe he’s not a National League Gold Glove finalist, as announced this week.
Game MVP: Dodgers’ pitching
Buehler gave them just enough with four scoreless innings to allow Dave Roberts to turn the game over to his bullpen, the strength of this LA staff.
The bullpen, the strength of the Dodgers, did the rest, as four pitchers combined for five scoreless innings.