MLB Playoffs: Ohtani leads loss as Dodgers defeat Mets in NLCS Game 3 | MLB

Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers, capping their 8-0 victory over the New York Mets in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday night.

Enrique Hernández hit a two-run pitch in the sixth inning to make it 4-0 and waved to the Citi Field crowd, which he silenced. Los Angeles rebounded from a home loss to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with its fourth shutout in its last five playoff games.

Ohtani scored in the eighth with a 410-foot drive that rocketed into the second deck in right field and stayed just above the foul pole. Max Muncy hit his 13th postseason home run in the ninth, tying Corey Seager and Justin Turner for the franchise record. Muncy also scored in Game 2.

An enthusiastic Walker Buehler struck out Francisco Lindor to load the bases in the second, and the Dodgers pitched five tight innings from their hard-throwing bullpen. Buehler combined for a four-hitter with four relievers. Michael Kopech earned the win with a fifth no-hitter, and the Dodgers pitchers finished the game with 13 strikeouts.

“I said before that I like pitching in the cold,” Buehler said. “The ball went pretty well for me today. Will (Smith) did a really good job. Shutouts in the playoffs aren’t easy, and Will did a really good job.”

Mets starter Luis Severino fell 2-0 in the second, due in part to poor fielding. He did not allow an earned run but threw 95 pitches and walked four in 4 2/3 innings, earning the loss.

Slumping Dodgers catcher Smith slammed in a run with an infield single, and Tommy Edman had a sacrifice fly that could have been more if Tyrone Taylor hadn't made a sensational catch on the warning track in right-center.

Ohtani entered Wednesday batting .222, with one home run and five RBIs in his first postseason. The $700 million superstar provided the offense in Game 1 against the Mets but had not gone deep since hitting a three-run home run early in the opening game of the Division Series. When he hit an 0-1 cutter by Tylor Megill in the eighth, Ohtani pointed toward the Dodgers' dugout. The ball was originally declared fair, a decision that stood after a retest.

Coming off the regular season, Ohtani has 17 hits and 27 RBIs, including seven home runs, in his last 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The leadoff hitter is 0 for 22 with the bases empty this postseason. He is 7 for 9 with runners with two home runs and eight RBIs.

Game 4 is Thursday night in Queens. Rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto is scheduled to face veteran left-hander Jose Quintana in Los Angeles.