The Mets couldn't keep up with second place this postseason in the rare October flop

The sellout crowd was full of life and excitement for the Mets' first National League Championship Series game at Citi Field in nearly a decade.

But unfortunately, the Mets couldn't come close to rewarding the home power.

This October, for once, they failed to live up to the moment.

For once, this magical, masterful team that delivered several exciting endings and re-wrote many unfortunate scripts (and feature columns) didn't pull it off.

For once there was no fantastic finish.

There were no heroics from the home team.

The Dodgers were the team with the late fireworks this time. A majestic home run from international superstar Shohei Ohtani way over the foul pole in right field and just fair (that was the right call, but the pole needs to be higher once again!) and another from Max Muncy in the last few innings gave it that celebrated an 8-0 Dodgers victory and calmed a visibly dejected crowd.

Someone near the press box yelled belatedly, “Wake up.” That’s exactly what we expect in Game 4 starting Wednesday.

The Queens team is down, but of course we know it's better not to count them out. They lost two games to one in that mega-market, the highly rated NLCS. But comebacks are their thing, as we've seen time and time again this rockin' October.

“We have to come out and play the game the right way,” Francisco Lindor said. “Today we made more mistakes than them. When we limit our mistakes, we put ourselves in a good position. They played the game better than us. They executed people on the base. They played good defense. (But) I still feel very confident.”

These Mets have shown impressive comeback against some of the best in their league in recent weeks, defeating the Braves, the Brewers and the Phillies – all of whom are now eliminated from this derby. Now they must compete against a team made up of players who deserve their own honor on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard.

If anyone can do it, it's these Mets.

“We were beaten by nine points in the first game, came back and won Game 2. I don’t see any reason why we can’t do it tomorrow,” Mets reliever Reed Garrett said. “I think everyone believes in themselves and wants to go out and compete and I think that’s what we’re going to get (Thursday).”

It's really surprising that this club can't make it now. That's exactly what happened here in the first NLCS game since the days of David Wright and Daniel Murphy. The sellout crowd of 43,883 who braved the October cold deserved better after nearly a decade of waiting.

Fans were prepared for the big night that never came. The Mets invited Doc and Darryl to the first ball ceremony, which was a nice touch, and they got the crowd going with “Let's Go Mets!” chants. They kept it clean which was nice too.

The environment was full of energy. However, the attack was never triggered.

The Mets' best plays were made on defense, which prevented LA from going any further. The Mets made two outstanding plays – a sliding-diving catch by Tyrone Taylor that was reminiscent of Tommie Agee's great play in the 1969 World Series – that momentarily thrilled the crowd. But they never produced a lineup that did little against previously struggling Dodgers starter Walker Buehler and his vaunted, stellar relief corps.

While the Mets made a few special defensive plays (Lindor executed a miraculous backhand scoop on a hot Mookie Betts grounder), the Mets also gave away two runs early as an unintentional Dodgers short ball led to an unearned lead in the second inning.

Three possible plays that were not carried out resulted in damage. OMG that was so bad.

“If you give a team like this extra outs, they're going to have to pay,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.