NEW YORK – If there is a Subway Series, the New York Mets will have to come from behind against the Los Angeles Dodgers to make it happen.

“It would be great for New York,” former Mets ace Dwight Gooden said Wednesday night before Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field.

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Gooden’s words were echoed moments later by Darryl Strawberry, his teammate in 1986, the last time the Mets won the World Series. The New York Yankees are seemingly on their way, leading Cleveland 2-0 in the American League Championship Series with Game 3 at Progressive Field Thursday.

But Strawberry sounded a note of warning. “The Mets have to go through a good Dodgers ballclub,” he said. “It won’t be easy.”

Strawberry turned out to be prophetic. After throwing the ceremonial first pitch to Gooden, the Dodgers took care of business with an 8-0 victory that included Shohei Ohtani’s second three-run homer of the playoffs. The Dodgers lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 and can seal the NL pennant by winning Games 4 and 5 here on Thursday and Friday evening.

If not, it’s back to Dodger Stadium to close out the series.

For the next two games, the Dodgers have the Mets right where they want them, with a pair of quality starters ready to take the mound: Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Game 1 winner Jack Flaherty. The Mets, who have healthier starting depth, have Jose Quintana in Game 4 and Game 1 loser Kodai Senga in Game 5.

Even with the series lead, the Dodgers are under pressure to close things out in Queens. “I’d like to win this in five, yeah,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Otherwise, pitching plans for a potential Games 6 and 7 are vague, as the Dodgers only have three viable starters on their NLCS roster. They would like to avoid another bullpen game like Monday’s 7-3 loss in Game 2.

Roberts chooses not to think about that now. “We’ll see when we get there,” he said. “There’s obviously a lot of things that could happen from now until Game 6.”

First, Game 3 happened. The Mets were held to four hits by Dodgers starter Walker Buehler and four relievers. Despite the Dodgers’ apparent pitching shortage, they have pitched four shutouts in the past five playoff games against the San Diego Padres and the Mets, two of the better hitting teams in the National League. They held the Mets scoreless in Game 1, winning 9-0.

By the time Ohtani’s 400-foot rocket landed on the right-field seats, the game was effectively over. Buehler had given the Dodgers four solid enough innings, throwing 90 pitches and clearing some early jams. The Mets wondered what they would have to do to win the title for the first time since 1986.

And the fact is, MLB and its TV partners might prefer that the Dodgers play the Yankees with all the inherent storylines. It would be the twelfth time in history that the two teams have met in the Fall Classic, but the first since 1981. Then there’s the prospect of a battle between Ohtani and Yankee star Aaron Judge.

At first glance, Ohtani, who recorded the first 50 home run/50 stolen base season in MLB history, has struggled in his first postseason, hitting .226 overall with no stolen bases. But his home run in the eighth inning with runners on first and second makes him 17-for-20 in his most recent at-bats with runners in scoring position. He is also the first MLB hitter to ever do that.

There is a clear inequality there.

“Playing against good teams, better teams, with their best pitchers makes it harder in the playoffs,” Ohtani said. “So being able to get hits and get results may not be as easy as it could be.”

The Mets have done it the hard way all year, digging a hole for themselves by starting the season 0-5 and at one point falling to 11 games under .500. But they kept coming back, and now they’ll have to do it again.

“Look, what we are experiencing now, we are making history. That’s what we want,” first-year Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We want to create something special. I know it’s been a while, and that’s why you see so much excitement in the city and around baseball. No one expected us to be here, and here we are.”

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