Mendoza plans to 'keep our guys riding' after another shutout

NEW YORK — The solution to Carlos Mendoza's second shutout of the Mets in three games is simple: Play it again

Nothing much went the Mets' way in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field on Wednesday, an 8-0 loss to the Dodgers that put the Mets in a 2-1 hole in this best-of-seven series. Despite having some juicy chances, they couldn't score. Their defense failed. Each of their three pitchers, Luis Severino, Reid Garrett and Tyler Magill, gave up multiple runs.

But Mendoza has reason to be optimistic. In Sunday's Game 1, the Mets looked even less lively at the plate, mustering just three singles. Their manager wrote the exact same lineup card the next day and they responded with six runs in the first two innings of Game 2.

Mendoza is hoping for something similar in Game 4 on Thursday.

“The guys out there got us to this point,” Mendoza said. “And I'm pretty confident they will.”

If the Mets are to do that, they will need to produce the key hits that eluded them on Wednesday. They certainly can't finish hitless with runners in scoring position again. They could not strand another eight men on base.

The Mets, in other words, can't squander the dream scenarios that unfold in the second inning: bases loaded, Walker Buehler on the ropes, Francisco Lindor at the plate. While Lindor didn't stop at saying that Buehler surprised him with a fake 3-2 curve, the fact remains that he swung through the pitch. And the Mets never recovered, failing to get another runner the rest of the way to second base.

“It was the pitch of the game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Of course, the crowd was into it. They were gaining momentum. Getting the breaking ball down the zone and striking out a great hitter was huge.”

So why would the Mets bring back their lineup, given the relative lack of success this starting nine has engineered in the NLCS thus far? One reason is the desire not to panic, as Mendoza points out. On the day the Mets beat the Braves in Game 161 to clinch a playoff spot, they used a lineup similar to the one they ran out Wednesday. Outside of DH, which split between JD Martinez and Jesse Winker in October, they have used the same personnel in each of their 10 postseason games.

“From now on, I will continue to ride our boys,” Mendoza said. “They brought us here. They will continue to move forward.”

The counterargument is that the Mets didn't have a healthy Jeff McNeal for the first seven of those games and didn't know what kind of shape McNeal would be in coming into this series. Mendoza thought enough to keep McNeil on the NLCS roster, but not enough to pinch-hit him for Jose Iglesias in Game 3, with two men on base, one out and right-handed reliever Ryan Brescia on the mound. Sixth innings.

Because Dodgers lefty Anthony Banda was hot in the bullpen, Mendoza chose to match up Iglesias against Brasier instead of McNeil against Banda. It was marred by miscues as Iglesias grounded into an inning-ending double play.

“I'm ready whenever my name is called,” said McNeil, who flew out of the low-leverage spot after one inning. “It is what it is. These guys have taken us this far, so I think we're rolling with them.”

McNeil cited his pair of line drives against Dodgers Game 4 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto in April as evidence that he would be a great addition to the lineup. But Mendoza indicated that McNeil would not be on the cards, citing Yamamoto's opposite platoon split.

“I thought I saw the ball well [against Yamamoto]” McNeil said. “I think personally, a fastball-changeup guy is my best guy. That's what it is. I'm not like most hitters. I think I handle the ball really well, which is why I can handle changeups — for that. A splitter. But, yeah, we'll see.”

It's not just McNeil who will be on the bench Thursday. Winker, who has reached base in seven of his last 14 plate appearances, headlined by Game 3, may have been sidelined by Yamamoto's split. Mendoza cited Buehler's “neutral” split as the reason Martinez started Wednesday. He finished 0-for-2 with two walks.

Then there's right-handed catcher Francisco Alvarez, who is 5-for-35 (.143) with 13 strikeouts this postseason. Alvarez will return to the lineup Thursday, Mendoza said, because “he's a good player.”

“He will come through for us,” added the manager.

The Mets need him. They need someone — anyone, really — if they want to continue their postseason run.