A clear pattern developed Thursday in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

Immediately after Shohei Ohtani walked in the third inning, Mookie Betts singled.

Immediately after Ohtani walked in the fourth, Betts doubled.

Immediately after Ohtani walked in the sixth, Betts homered.

Just one for 10 in the previous three games, Betts was four for six with four runs batted in and three runs scored.

This was what the Dodgers were counting on Betts to do. This was what they expected their offense to look like.

Now, after a 10-2 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field, the Dodgers lead the best-of-seven series three games to one. They are one win after their fourth World Series in eight seasons. On Friday they will start the potential decisive game of this series, with Betts finally playing as Betts again.

To get out of his funk, Ohtani had to break out of his.

In his first at-bat of the game, Ohtani collected his first bases-empty hit this postseason, completely erasing a 90-mph sinker by José Quintana that stayed over the heart of the plate.

Distance traveled: 422 feet.

Exit speed: 197.8 km/h.

Result: home run.

Ohtani was hitless in his previous 22 at bats with no runners on base. He pointed to his team’s bench as he began to circle the bases, confirming what Freddie Freeman told him before the game. (Freeman was held due to a sprained ankle.)

“Freddie told me before the game that we didn’t need another late show,” Ohtani explained in Japanese, a reference to the fact that he didn’t homer until the eighth inning in Game 3.

The Dodgers didn’t stay ahead long, as Mets third baseman Mark Vientos tied the game in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run of his own. However, Ohtani’s explosion in the first inning affected the remainder of the game. Quintana never challenged him again.

With the bases empty in the third inning, Ohtani walked on four pitches. With Chris Taylor on first base in the fourth, Ohtani walked again. When the bases were empty again in the sixth, he walked again, this time with reliever José Buttó on the mound.

Each time, Betts punished the opponent. His two-run homer in the sixth inning off Phil Maton extended the Dodgers’ lead to 7-2 and put the game out of the Mets’ limited reach.

“There was a two- or three-at-bat stretch there. I don’t think he even saw a pitch up close, which I understand,” Betts said of Ohtani.

Betts might have understood, but manager Dave Roberts suspected he was offended anyway.

“I think Mookie takes it personally, as all competitors should,” Roberts said. “I really think things like that light a little fire under him.”

Betts took advantage of the Mets’ fear of Ohtani, but Ohtani also benefited from Betts’ production. All three of his walks resulted in runs, including in the fourth inning when he scored from first base on a double by Betts.

“I’m preparing myself to score when he hits,” Ohtani said. “Whether I’m first or second, if he hits, I’d like to have the mentality that I’m coming back home.”

For Betts, his breakthrough came as a relief. He had practically locked himself in the batting cage this week, taking hundreds of swings a day.

When asked what inspired him to take such extreme measures to get back on track, Betts replied: “It’s the lack of help I’ve given the team.”

Betts explained: “It’s not something I want to do. I don’t want to hit all day. But it’s something that, based on my game, I have to do.

Based on Betts’ play in Game 4, the decision of whether or not to pitch around Ohtani became more difficult for the Mets, as well as which team plays the Dodgers in the World Series.

“It’s going to be hard to run him all the time, especially with the lineup and the guys, with Freddie in the game as well,” Betts said. ‘We’ll see. If they want to continue doing that, that’s fine. I just have to make sure I do my job well.”

When Betts did that Thursday night, the Dodgers didn’t just look like National League champions. They looked like World Series champions.