The Dodgers have some advantages from their Game 3 win over the Mets

NEW YORK – Question: How do you empty a full Citi field?

Answer: Pitch to Shohei Ohtani with men on base.

Did the Dodgers take command of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night when Ohtani turned on a Tylor Megill cutter and sent it screaming over the right field foul pole and into the second deck?

Probably not immediately. But Ohtani's three-run bomb, confirmed by video review and coming two innings after another playoff moment from Kiké Hernández, turned a relatively close game into another runaway. It helped the Dodgers to an 8-0 victory over the New York Mets and a 2-1 series lead – and considering that in NLCS history, the teams that won Game 3, 35 of 54 series won (64.8%).

And there were some subtle benefits beyond the series lead created by Ohtani's latest Ruthian – yes, I said it – banger.

One advantage was starting Freddie Freeman for a few innings. Freeman fought on in a limited but valiant way despite his ankle problem, making two big throws into the dirt at first base on Wednesday night. The more chances to get him innings, the better.

The other advantage? The big lead saved manager Dave Roberts from having to use a few more of his high-impact relievers in the late innings after Walker Buehler doggedly gave the Dodgers a great four innings and 90 pitches, struggling with traffic on the bases, but after up came with what he needed to stop those runners from scoring.

Notably, Buehler finished every inning with a strikeout. He fired up Pete Alonso with a runner in the first and got Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor to end the second and leave the bases loaded, the latter with a 3-and-2 curveball that got Buehler screaming. as he left the ball on the mound. Buehler fired up JD Martinez to put out two more runners in the third pitch and caused Alvarez to throw a called third strike on his 90th and final pitch to end the fourth pitch.

It wasn't necessarily vintage Buehler. But given the twists and turns of his return from Tommy John surgery, it felt familiar and good to contribute in a big-game atmosphere.

“Yeah, that’s all for me,” he said. “…The big games or my participation in big games, that’s literally all I care about. The way Kiké talks about our team having a certain level of confidence when I'm pitching, I think that's actually the goal of every starting pitcher.

“There's the stats and free agency and all that, but I want to have 25 people in the locker room that believe I'm giving us a really good chance to win. “If I somehow got that done in our locker room, I will “I’ll probably be most proud of it when I’m done.”

With 90 pitches and the stress that comes with it, four innings were enough for Buehler. Michael Kopech got the team in order in the fifth, Ryan Brasier entered the game after Hernández's 15th home run of the season (and second of the October) extended LA's lead to 4-0 in the sixth, and Blake Treinen scored the 8-9-1 part of the Mets lineup in the seventh. Treinen threw 11 throws, 10 strikes and finished be Night work, also fanning Lindor.

(Funny thing. Lindor heard a lot of chants of “MVP” from the Citi Field crowd early in the game, which was announced at 43,893. He was 0 for 4, and when Treinen picked him off… well, empty seats don't shout. “MVP.”)

With a big lead, Roberts was able to use Ben Casparius in the final two innings, saving Evan Phillips and Daniel Hudson for another day. “These things are important” in a long line, Roberts said.

Even beyond the way the workload piles up during a seven-game series, and particularly in the middle three games, the longer a series lasts, the better the batters' chances of seeing those replacements, and In theory, the success they could have is also greater. But if Roberts handles it skillfully – and even those who doubt his sovereignty have to admit – he's done pretty much well so far this October Perhaps Except for Game 2 – batters may not get multiple looks at a particular reliever.