For fans of the home side, the only thing worse than the circumstances was the results.

A stiff breeze, coupled with a plunging mercury, sent chills through the 43,883 fans who flocked to Flushing Wednesday to watch the New York Mets play the Los Angeles Dodgers at CitiField.

However, for the second time in the first three games of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series, New York came up empty.

The final score, 8-0, pushed the wildcard Mets to a 2-1 deficit with two games remaining in Queens.

The series could have been billed as The Battle of the Bulge – perhaps an apt description of both bloated payrolls. The Mets top all 30 teams with $317,778,898, while the Dodgers are sixth with $241,010,117, according to Spotrac. The New York Yankees, also part of baseball’s Final Four, are in second place with $309,434,607.

Players on World Series teams earn even more.

A full share given to members of the world champion Texas Rangers last year was $506,263.

Pride is also at stake; the Mets have won just two World Series, most recently in 1986, while the Dodgers have six, but none in a continuous season since 1988 (Los Angeles also won the World Series after its virus-shortened 2020 campaign).

These two teams have met four times in the postseason, but only once before in the NLCS, with the Dodgers winning 4-3 in 1988 before defeating the Oakland Athletics in the World Series.

Entering the postseason tournament, the Mets were the most popular team in the majors. After a loss on May 29, they went 67-40 for a best-in-the-majors .626 winning percentage.

That didn’t matter Wednesday when they couldn’t handle Dodgers starter Walker Buehler, who had an inflated 5.38 average during the regular season but was hired after Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May, among others all couldn’t pitch.

Even two-time star Shohei Ohtani was unavailable as a pitcher as his right elbow was healing from a procedure to repair his UCL.

Ohtani could hit, though, as he proved with a massive three-run home run in the eighth inning that turned a 4-0 Los Angeles lead into a runaway and sent many frigid fans home.

Ohtani was all but certain to win his second straight Most Valuable Player award (and third overall) and hadn’t hit with his usual frequency or ferocity in the playoffs. A virtual dud with empty bases; his best work came with men on base – like Wednesday night in the eighth inning.

His home run was one of three hits by the Dodgers, who also got circuit power from Max Muncy and postseason stud Kiké Hernández, while four long hits from Mets hitters ended up in the gloves of Dodgers outfielders, aided by a steady headwind. that blew in.

New York managed just four hits against Buehler and the LA bullpen, leaving eight baserunners behind. Three of those came in the second inning, when Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor both fanned out with the bases loaded.

The slumping Alvarez also made a throwing error that contributed to the first Dodger runs in the top of the second inning.

“He’s a good hitter, man,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters who asked about Alvarez after the game. “I like that he is aggressive. And he will continue to get opportunities because he is a big part of this team.”

JD Martinez and Jose Iglesias have also made their appearances, prompting The New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro to recommend replacements as the series continues Thursday.

“The series can still be saved,” he wrote. “Now Mendoza has to make the tough choices to actually save it.”