Mets let home crowd down with Game 3 dud as Dodgers take control of NLCS

The roars during pregame introductions weren’t supposed to be the loudest of the night, but what else was there Wednesday?

Other than a ball or two early that under calmer wind conditions might have settled into the outfield seats, the Mets barely posed a threat, resembling the team that had disappeared meekly into the Hollywood night in Game 1 of this NLCS.

And now the Mets are again trying to regain even footing, following an 8-0 loss in Game 3 at Citi Field that tilted the series in the Dodgers’ favor.

“We play the game to try to give a good show for [the fans],” Francisco Lindor said. “And we didn’t do anything to give them moments . They didn’t get what they came here to see.”

The Mets managed only four hits (all were singles) against Walker Buehler and the Dodgers bullpen in getting shut out for the second time in three games.

The challenge won’t get any easier on Thursday, when Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto is scheduled to face Jose Quintana in Game 4.

Yamamoto, whom the Mets heavily pursued in free agency last offseason, pitched five shutout innings against the Padres last Friday in the NLDS clincher.

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Noting that Yamamoto is tougher against left-handed hitters than righties, manager Carlos Mendoza said he would expect to keep right-handed hitting options such as slumping Jose Iglesias and J.D. Martinez in the lineup.

The manager also plans to stick with slumping Francisco Alvarez.

“The guys that are in there got us to this point,” Mendoza said. “And I’m pretty confident they will come through.”

Shohei Ohtani delivered the knockout punch on this night with a three-run homer against Tylor Megill in the eighth. The blast was the Dodgers’ second of the game and sent many of the 43,883 in attendance toward the exit.

Luis Severino allowed two unearned runs over 4 ²/₃ inning s on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

It was the first time in three starts this postseason that Severino, who threw 95 pitches, failed to pitch six innings.

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The Dodgers scored two unearned runs in the second after Alvarez’s throwing error to second base on Teoscar Hernandez’s squib put runners on first and second with nobody out.

After Severino couldn’t handle Gavin Lux’s comebacker (losing a double play on the drop), Will Smith’s single off Severino’s glove brought in the game’s first run.

Tommy Edman’s ensuing drive to center went for a sacrifice fly, but could have been much worse: Tyrone Taylor’s sliding catch, as Starling Marte hurdled him, prevented an extra-base hit.

The Mets loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning before Alvarez and Lindor struck out against Buehler to end the threat.

Martinez and Taylor both walked in the inning and Iglesias reached on an infield single.

Severino loaded the bases on two walks and a single in the third, but escaped by retiring Hernandez and Lux in succession.

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Freddie Freeman’s two-out single in the fifth and a walk to Muncy gave the Dodgers a threat. Severino was removed and Reed Garrett struck out Hernandez to keep the Mets’ deficit at 2-0.

Buehler allowed three hits and two walks over four shutout innings with six strikeouts. It was a rebound performance from the right-hander, who allowed six earned runs over five innings in a loss to the Padres in Game 3 of the NLDS.

Enrique Hernandez’s two-run homer in the sixth widened the Dodgers’ lead to 4-0. Edman singled with two outs against Garrett and was balked to second before Hernandez hit a ball into the wind that just cleared the left-field fence for two runs.

Marte’s single in the sixth against Ryan Brasier and Martinez’s walk created a buzz from the fans, but Iglesias quashed it fast by grounding into an inning-ending double play.

“We are creating traffic,” Mendoza said. “I like the fact that we are getting guys on base. We just haven’t been able to come up with the big hit, but I will continue to take my chances with guys.”

In the eighth, Smith walked and Enrique Hernandez singled against Megill before Ohtani hit a towering shot above the right-field foul pole for his second homer this postseason.

Muncy homered against Megill leading off the ninth to bury the Mets in an 8-0 hole.

“We got beat 9-0 the first game and came back and won,” Garrett said. “I don’t see any reason why we can’t do that [Thursday].”

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