Another NLCS blowout by Ohtani and Dodgers leaves punchless Mets on brink

Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and scored four times, Mookie Betts also went deep and drove in four runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the New York Mets 10-2 on Thursday night for a 3-1 lead in their lopsided National League Championship Series.

Betts had a two-run homer and a two-run double among his four hits. Max Muncy extended his streak of reaching base safely to 12 plate appearances, a postseason record, and the Dodgers moved within one win of their 25th pennant – most in NL history.

Game 5 is Friday at Citi Field, with Jack Flaherty expected to pitch for Los Angeles with an opportunity to put his hometown team in the World Series.

New York had not committed to a scheduled starter, but it was likely to be Kodai Senga or David Peterson.

Surprise cleanup batter Tommy Edman had three RBIs, including a tiebreaking double off starter Jose Quintana with two outs in the third inning. Kiké Hernández followed with an RBI single that made it 3-1.

Betts broke open the game, greeting reliever Jose Buttó with a two-run double in the fourth and then right-hander Phil Maton with a two-run homer in the sixth.

Both big hits followed walks to Ohtani, and Betts gave a huge fist pump between second and third as he rounded the bases following his third homer of these playoffs.

Mark Vientos provided a rare highlight for New York, hitting his fourth postseason homer in the first inning off $325 million rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

But the Mets, who were 14-2 in their past 16 games at Citi Field when they arrived back home Wednesday, were blown out on their own turf for the second consecutive night.

New York has been outscored 30-9 in the series, including 9-0 in the opener and 8-0 in Game 3.

The latest flop after a thrilling comeback ride this far into October hushed a sellout crowd of 43,882 and left Citi Field eerily quiet in the late innings – and just about as empty as April.