They were crushed by a haymaker. You can blame it on jet lag. You can blame Jack Flaherty, who threw the game of his life. You can blame the crowd of Angelinos who did their best to replicate on behalf of the Dodgers in Chavez Ravine what the Mets enjoyed last week in Queens.

You can blame anything. But the hard truth was this: the Mets went nine innings on Sunday night and looked like they belonged somewhere other than the National League Championship Series. Put it this way, when there is a forfeit in a major league baseball game, the official score is 9-0.

That was also the official score of Game 1: the Dodgers looked like the varsity club, the Mets like the JV.

The Mets had to respond to the bullying the way we were always taught from the first day of school: bully the bully. He throws an uppercut, you throw a straight right. Channel Sean Connery as Jim Malone in “The Untouchables”:

“They send one of yours to the hospital, you send two of yours to the morgue!”

The Mets may not have sent the Dodgers to the coroner’s office at Dodger Stadium on Monday afternoon. But they did send a message back to the Dodgers, grabbing a 6-0 lead after two innings and a 7-3 victory that tied the NLCS at 1 and 1, sending the teams back to Citi Field, promising a matchup to become. madhouse Wednesday, with the Mets currently owning home field advantage.

“We wanted to make some noise,” said Francisco Lindor, and of course he made sure to bring a set of New Year’s Eve pots and pans straight to the crowd of 52,926, targeting them and the Dodgers with a brilliant eight-pitch on… bat led off the game which was ended by a home run to right field off LA’s opener, Ryan Brasier.

“I was trying to get a good throw,” Lindor said, “and I got it.”

And when he did, it had a predictable effect on the rest of the lineup. You could see the Mets exhaling. You could see it in starter Sean Manaea, who powered through the opening innings. And you could see it in the top of the second inning, as the Mets tried to extend their early lead.

They doubled to make it 2-0 when Tyrone Taylor doubled for Starling Marte with one out. The rally was hampered when Francisco Alvarez came up short, but this is where the Mets really started to bow out. Dave Roberts waved four fingers to warn Landon Knack that he was intentionally walking Lindor.

Smart move. Actually the only move. Lindor has been such a reliable threat for the Mets, and Roberts wanted no part of him. Lindor understood. The Mets certainly did that. This also applied to all 52,926 in the house.

Even Mark Vientos probably thought it was a smart decision.

But Vientos also felt something else.

“To be honest,” he said, “I took it personally.”

He took it personally. How great is that? Kid has been in professional sports for less than a year, but from the way he shook his head in the on-deck circle, you could tell he couldn’t believe he was being given this opportunity. You could tell by the way he almost sprinted to the plate that he intended to make the most of it.

“If you want me at the plate,” he would say later, “I’ll drive away.”

He did better than that. He drove into four. Knack’s fastball came in at 95.1 miles per hour. It left Vientos’ bat traveling at 100 mph. And by the time the ball landed 400 feet away in center field, the Mets had a 6-0 lead. Locals already seemed eager to grab their car keys and beat the rush to the highways.

And the Mets had answered a haymaker with a haymaker.

Manaea did his thing. And the Dodgers, who won 98 games this year, tried to give the Mets a good scare, scoring twice in the sixth to cut the lead to 6-3, taking advantage of the tiring Manaea and two walks and a couple of ground balls that should have been out. The Angelinos were awakened from their sleep.

And Edwin Diaz added to the agita at the right time in the ninth.

But then it seemed like even Diaz decided to get stronger. After allowing two runners and watching the tying run step to the on-deck circle, he went with 13 consecutive fastballs, no more quips, before ending the game by getting Freddie Freeman to swing at a slider.

Now they get Citi Field back in the game, and Citi Field will support the Mets, don’t worry about that.

“Mets Nation is great,” said Lindor, who is well on his way to being promoted in Amazin’. “I’m looking forward to being home.” And he’s not the only one.