LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Dodgers will try to move within one victory of the World Series when they face the New York Mets Thursday at Citi Field in New York in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers took a two games to one lead in the best-of-seven series with an 8-0 victory Wednesday as Walker Buehler and four relievers combined on a four-hitter and Kiké Hernandez, Shohei Ohtani and Max Muncy homered.
Teams leading an MLB best-of-seven series 2-1 have gone on to with the series 106 of 151 times, 70.2%, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, MLB’s official statistician.
The Dodgers opened the scoring with two runs in the second. Muncy led off with a walk. Teoscar Hernández hit a tapper 2 feet in front of home plate. Catcher Francisco Alvarez threw to second to try get the force on Muncy, but the throw hit him. Muncy moved to third and Hernández to second on Gavin Lux’s ground out.
Will Smith, who entered the game batting .087 with two hits in 23 at- bats in the postseason, hit a bouncing ball that went off the glove of Luis Severino, the New York pitcher, and rolled to a stop before shortstop Francisco Lindor could field it, with Muncy scoring and Hernández advancing to third on the infield hit.
Hernández scored on Tommy Edman’s sacrifice fly.
“We found a way to get lucky and score a couple of runs in that second inning,” Dodger manager Dave Roberts said.
New York loaded the bases in its half of the second. With one out, J.D. Martinez walked on a full-count cutter, Jose Iglesias hit an infield single and Tyrone Taylor walked on a full-count cutter.
Buehler struck out Francisco Alvarez looking for the second out and ended the inning by striking out Francisco Lindor on a full-count curve ball.
“That was the pitch of the game,” Roberts said. “The crowd was into it. They were gaining momentum. To get the breaking ball down below the zone and get a great hitter out was huge.”
The Dodgers increased their lead to 4-0 in sixth. After Severino retired Lux and Smith, Edman singled and Kiké Hernandez hit a 1-2, two-out splitter 378 feet over the left center field fence.
“Biggest hit of the game,” Roberts said.
Ohtani hit a 378-foot, three-run homer in the eighth, his seventh hit in nine at-bats with runners on base during the postseason. He his hitless in 22 at-bats with the bases empty.
Muncy a solo homer in the ninth before a crowd announced at 43,883.
Buehler allowed three hits in four innings, struck out six and walked two. The right-hander generated 18 swings and misses, his most in a game, regular season or postseason, since Oct. 3, 2021 when he generated 20 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Michael Kopech (1-0), the second Dodger pitcher, was credited with the victory, pitching a perfect fifth with a strikeout.
The shutout was the Dodgers’ fourth of the postseason. The Dodgers are the eighth team with at least four shutouts in a postseason.
Severino (1-1) was charged with the loss, allowing three hits and two runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto will pitch for the Dodgers Thursday against left-hander Jose Quintana.
Yamamoto will be making his third appearance of the postseason. He allowed five runs on five hits in three innings and did not figure in the decision in a 7-5 victory in Game 1 of a National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres Oct. 5.
Yamamoto was the winning pitcher in the decisive fifth game of the NLDS, allowing two hits over five innings, in Friday’s 2-0 victory.
Yamamoto was 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in his first season in MLB. The Dodgers were 11-7 in his 18 starts.
Yamamoto faced the Mets once, allowing four runs, three earned, and seven hits in six innings and not figuring in the decision in a 9-4 loss April 19.
Yamamoto said he met with Mets’ management “a couple times” last offseason as he was deciding which team to sign with.
“I had a good impression, which made it a little hard to make a decision,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “It’s a wonderful organization.”
Quintana will be making his third start of the postseason. He has no record and a 0.00 ERA in 11 innings.
Quintana was 10-10 with a 3.75 ERA during the regular season. The Mets were 16-15 in his 31 starts.
Quintana faced the Dodgers once in 2024. He allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings May 28 and was charged with the loss in a 3-0 loss.
Quintana is 3-2 with a 2.04 ERA in 13 career appearances against the Dodgers, including 10 starts.
Ohtani has never faced Quintana.
ESPN’s matchup predictor gives New York a 50.1% chance of winning Thursday, the Dodgers a 49.9% chance.
The 5:08 p.m. game will be televised by FS1.
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