The Mets responded perfectly after being bullied in the NLCS opener

They were leveled by a haymaker. Jet lag is to blame for this. You can blame Jack Flaherty, who played the game of his life. Credit can be given to the Angelinos, who did their best to replicate on behalf of the Dodgers in Chavez Ravine what the Mets enjoyed in Queens last week.

You can blame anything. But the harsh truth was this: The Mets played nine innings Sunday night and looked like they belonged somewhere other than the National League Championship Series. Put it this way: When there is a loss in a Major League Baseball game, the official score is 9-0.

That was the official result of Game 1, the Dodgers looked like the varsity club, the Mets like the JV.

The Mets had to respond to the bullying the way we were always taught from the first day of kindergarten: bully the bully. He throws an uppercut, you throw a straight right. Channel Sean Connery as Jim Malone in The Untouchables:

“You send one of them to the hospital, you send two of them to the morgue!”

The Mets may not have sent the Dodgers to the coroner's office at Dodger Stadium on Monday afternoon. But they sent a message back to the Dodgers by taking a 6-0 lead after two innings and grinding out a 7-3 victory that evens the NLCS at 1-1 and sends the teams back to Citi Field, which Tollhaus promises success on Wednesday, with the Mets currently having home advantage.

“We wanted to make some noise,” said Francisco Lindor, and of course he made sure to bring a set full of pots and pans directly to the 52,926-person crowd on New Year's Eve, jingling them and the Dodgers with a brilliant eight-pitch sound. The slugger started the game, which was capped by a home run to right field off LA opener Ryan Brasier.

“I was trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Lindor said, “and I got one.”

And when he did, it had the predictable effect on the rest of the lineup. You could see the Mets exhale. You could see that in starter Sean Manaea, who breezed through the first innings. And you could see that early in the second period as the Mets tried to extend their early lead.

They doubled it to 2-0 when Tyrone Taylor doubled Starling Marte with one out. The rally was slowed when Francisco Alvarez came up short, but this is where the Mets really started to show off. Dave Roberts waved four fingers, alerting Landon Knack that he was intentionally accompanying Lindor.

Smart move. Actually the only step. Lindor was a reliable threat for the Mets, and Roberts wanted nothing to do with him. Lindor understood. The Mets certainly did. This also applied to all 52,926 in the house.

Hell, even Mark Vientos probably thought it was a smart decision.

But Vientos sensed something else.

“To be honest,” he said, “I took it personally.”

He took it personally. How awesome is that? Kid has only been in the bigs for less than a year, but you could tell by the way he shook his head in the circle on deck that he couldn't believe he was being given this opportunity. You could tell by the way he almost sprinted to the plate that he intended to make the most of it.

“You want my turn,” he would later say, “I’m going for a run.”

He did better. He drove away four of them. Knack's fastball reached 95.1 miles per hour. It left Vientos' bat at a speed of 102.3 miles per hour. And when it landed 391 feet away at center field, the Mets had a 6-0 lead. Locals already seemed eager to grab their car keys and escape the rush onto the highways.

And the Mets had answered a haymaker with a haymaker.

Manaea did his thing. And the Dodgers, who have won 98 games this year, tried to give the Mets a good scare by scoring twice in the sixth to cut the lead to 6-3, which should have been out. The Angelinos were woken from their sleep.

And right on cue, Edwin Diaz added some extra excitement in the ninth.

But then it seemed like even Diaz decided to bulk up. After allowing two runners and seeing the tying run come to the on-deck circle, he hit 13 straight fastballs, no joke anymore, before ending the game by getting Freddie Freeman to hit a slider.

Now they're bringing Citi Field back into the game, and Citi Field will turn its back on the Mets, don't worry about it.

“Mets Nation is great,” said Lindor, who is currently earning his doctorate in “Amazin'.” “I’m looking forward to being home.” And he’s not alone.