The Dodgers overtake the Mets in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the NLCS

NEW YORK – Don’t give in to the nibbling. The mantra that the Los Angeles Dodgers followed in defeating the New York Mets in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday night was introduced in the pregame batters’ meeting, carried over to the dugout and manifested on the field where they beat the Mets early and never let up as he cruised to a 10-2 victory.

Mets starter Jose Quintana entered this postseason with a 0.00 ERA – and by far the lowest percentage of pitches thrown in the strike zone. In baseball parlance, he’s a nibbler.

By resisting the temptation of Quintana’s numerous waste pitches, forcing him to throw more in the zone and then punishing him, the Dodgers took a commanding 3-1 lead and can secure their 22nd place in the World Series on Friday night secure.

Right fielder Mookie Betts went 4-6 with a home run and four RBIs. Designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run, walked three times and scored four runs. Infielder Max Muncy got on base for the first time and set a major league record with 12 consecutive plate appearances he reached.

The victory mirrored Los Angeles’ triumphs in Games 1 and 3: complete supremacy. Every Dodgers win came by at least eight runs. They outscored the Mets 30-9. The 43,882 spectators arrived at Citi Field ready to watch the Mets even the series and left the stadium 3 hours and 39 minutes later, disappointed by the Dodgers’ dominance.

“If you have plans and stick to them,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, “most of the time they will work out.”

Freeman, normally the Dodgers’ No. 3 hitter, did not play because of an ankle injury. But he attended the batsmen’s meeting where the coaches laid out Quintana’s plan of attack. During the regular season, only 41.4% of his pitches landed in regulation – the lowest percentage among the 174 pitchers who threw at least 75 innings. During his first two playoff starts, his in-zone rate dropped to 34.2%.

The task was obvious: don’t fall victim to Quintana’s penchant for dancing on the edges of the zone. It worked. The Dodgers hit 66% of their throws inside the regulation zone, but only 13% outside. In contrast, the Mets offered 64% of Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s in-zone pitches and 46% of outside pitches.

“That’s the beauty of our team,” Betts said. “It can change, but whoever is in the lineup is good and will follow their plan. They want to win. That’s why we’re currently 3-1.”

At the top of the lineup, Ohtani led the way in the remarkable fashion he so often does, slinging a 90-mile-per-hour Quintana in the middle of the zone left to right-center field, giving the Dodgers an instant 1-0 lead. gave a lead. The ball traveled 422 feet and left Ohtani’s bat at 117.8 mph – the third-hardest postseason home run in baseball’s pitch-tracking era.

The hit sufficiently startled the Mets, who threw Ohtani around him in his next three plate appearances – and woke up Betts. The 32-year-old, whose struggles early in the postseason vexed him, had recently spent extra time taking hits in the batting cage as he continued his playoff resurgence. After Ohtani’s first walk in the third inning, Betts singled and both eventually scored. After Ohtani’s second walk, Betts scored two runs with a double to the left corner off Jose Butto, who replaced Quintana, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 5-2. Ohtani’s third walk preceded a Betts home run against another new pitcher, Phil Maton, that increased the lead to 7-2.

While none of the moves to Ohtani were intentional like the one Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave Francisco Lindor before Mark Vientos’ grand slam in Game 2 – something Vientos admitted bothered him – Roberts believes they had a similar effect on Betts .

“I think he took it the same way Vientos did — personally,” Roberts said. “And that’s okay. That’s okay. And I think he understands that whether it’s a manager sticking four fingers up or throwing intentional balls that are two feet out, you’re going to chase the next guy. So I think Mookie takes it personally, as all competitors should. And I think things like that light a little fire under him.

The fire raged far beyond the dynamic duo at the front of the lineup. Shortstop Tommy Edman, far from a prototypical cleanup hitter, drove in three runs, including two in the eighth inning. Enrique Hernandez, the Dodgers’ October surprise, recorded two hits and scored one run. And Muncy, the 34-year-old who normally mans third base but slid to first base in Freeman’s place, walked his first three times and then hit a single up the middle to extend his streak to 12 consecutive plate appearances to expand on the base. His run ended with a strikeout in the eighth inning.

Since eight of those on-base appearances came by walk, Muncy helped set the tone for his teammates to emulate. In four games in the NLCS, the Dodgers drew 31 walks, and the nine they drew on Thursday — including three each from Muncy and Ohtani — embodied Los Angeles’ ability to formulate a smart game plan and execute it.

“This is a team that controls the strike zone as much as anyone in the league,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Not only do they do that, but when they force you into the zone they can do damage. And that’s what they did strike zone. And when he did, they made him pay.

Quintana retired after 3⅓ innings, allowing five runs and walking four batters while throwing just two strikeouts. Butto walked a pair, Maton walked one, and the Mets’ final pitcher, Danny Young, walked two more.

“If we need a walk, we fight the whole at-bat and take a walk,” Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said. “There are no heroes in this clubhouse. If they don’t pitch for you, you just get on base and face the next guy behind you.”

The Dodgers’ lineup is a pick-your-gift operation — “just so difficult for starting pitchers,” Freeman said, because “you’re going up against Hall of Famers right from the start.” Ohtani and Betts will eventually make their way to Cooperstown, as will Freeman, and their plaques will reflect not only the successes they achieved individually, but as a team.

Nights like Thursday serve as a reminder of how good they are, how good the Dodgers are and that trying to win another game and the National League pennant is a lesson not to give in.