NEW YORK (AP) — By the time Shohei Ohtani stepped onto the plate in the eighth inning Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers were already in control.

As soon as the ball left his bat, Game 3 of the National League Championship Series was over.

Ohtani launched a three-run homer and the Dodgers pulled away for an 8-0 victory against the choppy New York Mets that gave them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Kiké Hernández hit a two-run shot to make it 4-0 in the sixth with his 15th career postseason homer and waved to the Citi Field crowd as he quieted it. Los Angeles recovered from a loss at home by throwing its fourth shutout in the past five playoff games.

“These guys are locked in. And they understand they have a job to do to prevent runs,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And I think we defend well too.”

Game 4 is Thursday night in Queens, with Rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto at $325 million scheduled to start for Los Angeles against veteran left-hander Jose Quintana.

Ohtani hooked up for a towering 450-foot drive that ended up on the second deck in right field. He took a little bow at home plate as he watched the ball barely stay above the foul pole.

Max Muncy went deep in the ninth for his 13th career postseason homer, tying Corey Seager and Justin Turner for the franchise record. Muncy also connected in Game 2.

“It’s definitely a blessing. “I can’t be thankful enough that I had the opportunity to play enough games to get those numbers,” he said. “Grateful to be part of a team and an organization that reaches the postseason every year.”

Dodgers starter Walker Buehler struck out Francisco Lindor with a full-knuckle curve, leaving the bases loaded in the second.

An excited Buehler shouted as he walked down the hill, then back toward Lindor.

“That was the pitch of the game,” Roberts said. “The audience was clearly looking forward to it. They gained momentum. Getting the breaking ball under the zone and getting a great hitter out was huge. And I think that just kind of speaks to experience.

No. 9 hitter Francisco Alvarez fanned right in front of Lindor and went down all three times. New York stranded six runners in the first three innings against Buehler when the game was still close.

“Walker, he’s a different animal in the postseason. I don’t care what his regular season numbers are, especially this year after the second Tommy John (surgery),” Muncy said. “We all knew once we got into this setting he was going to be Walker Buehler, and he certainly was tonight.”

Buehler was winless since May 18 during an injury-plagued season, making his 17th career postseason start. He struck out six in four three-hit innings after failing to sniff out a single batter in the Division Series loss to San Diego.

“Playing big games, that’s literally all I care about,” said Buehler, who abandoned his excitement early in the game and began working exclusively off the stretch because he couldn’t keep his cold right foot on a hard hill feel.

“This is definitely a big momentum win for us. But if we don’t do anything with it, it doesn’t really matter.”

Buehler combined with four relievers on a four-hitter, while the Dodgers got five stingy innings from their hard-throwing bullpen.

“This guy has proven year after year that when there’s a big game and the Dodgers need a win, he’s the right guy to be on the mound,” Hernández said.

Michael Kopech scored a hitless fifth for the win, and Dodgers pitchers finished with 13 strikeouts.

Mets starter Luis Severino fell behind 2-0 in the second inning, partly due to sloppy fielding. He didn’t allow an earned run, but threw 95 pitches and walked four in 4 2/3 innings, taking the loss.

Slumping catcher Will Smith drove in a run with an infield single, and Tommy Edman had a sacrifice fly that could have been more had it not been for a sensational catch on Tyrone Taylor’s right-center warning track.

Los Angeles pitched back-to-back shutouts against San Diego to win their heated Division Series after falling two games to one. Jack Flaherty and the Dodgers then eliminated the Mets 9-0 in the NLCS opener Sunday, extending the team’s scoreless streak to 33 innings, matching a postseason record.

The only recent setback for the pitching staff came Monday, when Lindor hit a leadoff home run and the Mets won 7-3 at Chavez Ravine.

Ohtani hit .222 with a homer and five RBIs during his first postseason. The $700 million superstar led the charge in Game 1 against the Mets but had not gone deep since hitting a three-run homer early in the Division Series opener.

“It’s definitely important for Shohei to build some trust,” Roberts said.

When he made an 0-1 cutter by Tylor Megill in the eighth, Ohtani pointed to the Dodgers dugout. The ball was initially called fair, a ruling that stood after a replay review.

“I just threw it into his honey hole and he launched it onto the top deck,” Megill said.

Dating back to the regular season, Ohtani had 17 hits and 27 RBIs in his past 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position, including seven home runs. The leadoff hitter is 0 for 22 this postseason with the bases empty. With runners on, he is 7 for 9 with two home runs and eight RBIs.

Los Angeles improved to 4-0 at Citi Field this year, beating New York 26-5. That includes a three-game sweep in late May that dropped the Mets to 22-33 and marked the low point of their roller coaster season.

“I like that we’re getting guys on base. I just haven’t been able to come up with a big hit,” said New York manager Carlos Mendoza. “As long as we continue to generate traffic, someone will come along and get that big one for us.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: 2B Gavin Lux was back in the lineup, batting sixth. Lux missed Game 2 due to a right hip flexor injury that forced him out of the series opener in the seventh inning.

NEXT

Yamamoto (7-2, 3.00 ERA) struggled in the Division Series opener against San Diego, but then pitched five scoreless innings of two-hit ball to win the decisive Game 5 last Friday. He threw 39 of 63 pitches for strikes.

Quintana (10-10, 3.75 ERA) has not allowed an earned run over 11 innings in two playoff starts, both without decisions. Looking back to August 25, the 35-year-old Quintana has given up just three earned runs in eight starts spanning 47 1/3 innings.

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