Kiké Hernández, Shohei Ohtani power Dodgers 2-1 NLCS lead Mets: Takeaways

NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani hit his second home run of the season to give the Los Angeles Dodgers three late insurance runs in an 8-0 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the National League Championship Series.

Ohtani, who entered the game 0-for-19 with no runners on base, extended his bases-clearing drought by going hitless with walks in his first four plate appearances.

With two on in the eighth inning, Ohtani hit a huge home run just inside the right-field foul pole for his second homer of the postseason. Ohtani is now 7-for-9 with runners on base this October, including two home runs.

Hernandez unleashed the F-bomb-filled spell on the kick that the Dodgers said sparked their comeback in the NLDS against the Padres, and it was Hernandez that opened up an advantage the Dodgers would not relinquish in Game 5 of that series.

“I kept telling myself, they brought you here,” Hernandez said that night. “They brought you here to play in October. I wanted to come back to run with this team because I really want to have a parade.”

Hernandez's final moment, and his 15th career postseason homer, came in the sixth. The Dodgers held on to a two-run lead with a thorny portion of the Mets lineup. After Tommy Edman lined a two-out single to right and advanced on a bunt, Hernandez took advantage of an error. Reid Garrett laid a two-strike splitter over and over the plate. Hernandez didn't miss it, chipping in enough on a cold New York night to hit a two-run shot that doubled the Dodgers' advantage and allowed the club to continue to use its leveraged arms with some breathing room.

Quiet bats reduce the Mets' margin for error

The Mets were shut out for the second time in three games in the series, held back by the inconsistent Walker Buehler and the go-to arms of the Los Angeles bullpen.

New York had an early chance against Buehler. The second inning, especially, loomed large. After the Dodgers pushed across a pair of earned runs, the Mets loaded the bases with one out. But Francisco Alvarez, in the depths of an October slump, struck out looking and Francisco Lindor struck out swinging on a 3-2 curveball.

Alvarez is 1-for-9 in the series, which doesn't sound too bad until you consider the context of those at-bats. In the last two games alone, he is hitless in at-bats:

• Runners on second and third and one out
• Bases loaded and two outs
• Runners on first and second and two outs
• The bases are loaded with one out

That offensive silence made the Mets' defensive mistakes in that second inning stand out even more. Los Angeles scored on a walk and three ball plays that traveled a combined 36 feet, aided by an Alvarez error and Luis Severino's inability to clear a pair of comebackers.

Bueller finds some swing-and-misses at the right time

It's not hard to tell the difference between the second innings in each of Buehler's two postseason starts. In the second inning of Game 3 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, Buehler reached six different two-strikeout numbers: he recorded only one out among them. He finished the night without a strikeout in a start for just the second time in his career. The Padres, the best contact team in the majors, play ball. The Dodgers' defense pushed the inning behind him, allowing six runs.

Buehler found something else Wednesday night. Relying on a heavy diet of sweepers and curveballs, he has thrown out more swing-and-misses than he has in any start since returning May 6 from second Tommy John surgery. That proved to be enough, especially on a night when he lacked general command. Buehler threw just 51 strikes in his 90 pitches over four scoreless innings but managed to get 18 whiffs — his most this season — and six strikeouts.

No one was more important than the second innings. The Mets loaded the bases on a pair of walks and an infield single that Edman couldn't handle, sending Bueller down. He struck out Francisco Alvarez with a fastball that caught the outer half of the plate, then ended a seven-pitch battle with a curveball against Mets superstar Francisco Lindor to end the shortstop threat.

Two scoreless innings later set up a rested Dodgers bullpen with a two-run advantage, ideal conditions for Los Angeles.

(Photo by Shohei Ohtani: Luke Hales/Getty Images)