The New York Mets are back home with momentum in the 2024 National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets jumped all over Dodgers’ pitching in Game 2, scoring six runs in the first two innings, starting with Francisco Lindor’s leadoff home run in the first and punctuated by Mark Vientos’ grand slam in the second.
Now, with the series even at a game apiece, Games 3 through 5 are at Citi Field. New York, which clinched a playoff spot in a makeup doubleheader the day after the regular season was scheduled to end, now has home-field advantage in what has become a best-of-five to advance to the World Series.
Luis Severino (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 12.0 IP, 10K, 2BB in 2024 postseason) got the start for the Mets against Walker Buehler for the Dodgers (0-1, 10.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 0K, 1BB) in Game 3.
How to watch Dodgers at Mets, NLCS Game 3 (Series tied 1-1)
Time: 8:08 pm ET
Location: Citi Field | Queens, NY
TV channel: FS1
Streaming: Fubo, Fox Sports app
Live40 updates
Ohtani with the bases empty this postseason: 0-for-22 with 11 Ks.
Ohtani with runners on base this postseason: 7-for-9 with two homers.
Dodgers 7, Mets 0
This is uncanny. Ohtani was hitless in his first four plate appearances with the bases empty, then reaches the plate with two on and clubs a three-run homer. 116 mph off the bat, 410 feet, just over the right-field foul pole.
Daniel Hudson’s up for the eighth. Imagine that leaves Evan Phillips for the ninth tonight.
Treinen’s seventh inning: 11 pitches, 10 strikes, two strikeouts (one a three-pitch K of Lindor), no baserunners. He is scary when he’s hitting his spots, and he has been doing that a lot this postseason. The question now is if he stays in to face Vientos before the lefty Nimmo.
Treinen is a curious pick here. He’s arguably the Dodgers’ top arm out of the bullpen, and they deploy him with only one of the Mets’ big bats (Lindor) due up. It’s possible they’ve scheduled him to stay up to Lindor and Vientos and make sure those two are disconnected from the 3-4-5 of the Mets order, but the Dodgers are once again mixing things up with their bullpen.
Tylor Megill gets out of another two-on jam to keep the Mets within a grand slam of the Dodgers. It’ll be 8-9-1 in the bottom of the seventh against Blake Treinen as the Dodgers prepare for the last pass through the heart of the Mets order.
Chris Taylor also comes in to replace Gavin Lux at second base.
The jokes are too easy with Iglesias’ “OMG” anthem.
Ryan Brasier runs into trouble with two baserunners on and one out, but he escapes with a double play off the bat of Jose Iglesias. The Mets are down four runs with nine outs to work with.
Anthony Banda is up as Ryan Brasier strikes out Pete Alonso to lead off the sixth.
Postseason Kiké Hernández strikes again. On a 1-2 count with two outs, the Dodgers’ No. 9 hitter takes Reed Garrett deep to double the L.A. lead.
And now Shohei Ohtani reaches the plate with the bases empty for his fourth at-bat today.
The Dodgers bring in one of their top relief arms in Michael Kopech to face the top of the Mets order, and he goes 1-2-3 in the fifth — but with a couple of fly balls to the warning track by Lindor and Vientos.
Still 2-0 Dodgers, and the Mets have four innings to change that.
Garrett gets Hernandez swinging to end the inning scoreless. Severino’s final line: 4 2/3 innings, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 4 BB, 3 K, 95 pitches.
Luis Severino walks Max Muncy, and that will do it for him. The Mets bring in Reed Garrett to face Teoscar Hernandez with two on and two outs.
All in all, a solid start for Severino, considering the Mets defense (including his) did him few favors in the second inning.
Whoa. Francisco Lindor makes an incredible play to steal a hit from Mookie Betts. Add it to his already long postseason highlight reel.
Buehler posts a 1-2-3 inning, and that will likely do it for him after four scoreless inning and 90 pitches. His command was off, and he got into trouble a few times, but the Dodgers will take that, given how he has looked in other games.
It’s still 2-0 Dodgers through four in New York.
#Dodgers Dave Roberts on FOX broadcast says Walker Buehler is “grinding” and he’s “just trying to squeeze out 3 more hitters.” Look for Michael Kopech when it gets back to top of Mets lineup
Luis Severino works a low-stress fourth to keep it 2-0. Pitch counts are significant right now, with Severino at 79 through four and Buehler at 73 through three. With three games in three days, this is an important day for bullpen preservation.
Walker Buehler works around a couple of baserunners to post a scoreless third. He is the biggest X-factor of this game and possibly the whole series, and he is succeeding so far.
