It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the Los Angeles Dodgers are a bad matchup for the Mets. It was a bad matchup for left-hander Jose Quintana in Game 4 of the NLCS on Thursday night, and a bad matchup for Jose Butto, the right-hander who relieved him. It was a bad matchup for a lineup that has suddenly gone as cold as the temperature at Citi Field. The Mets are down 3-1 in the series after a 10-2 loss on Thursday night. They’ve been outscored 30-9 in the series and are now faced with the possibility of being eliminated Friday night in Game 5. The magic that has characterized the Mets’ run in October is dissipating. The Mets aren’t ready to give up, citing their previous comeback wins in the Wild Card and the NLDS. However, they never fell behind in either of those series. Winning three straight against Los Angeles is a much steeper hill to climb. “The one word I can think of for the 2024 Mets, other than Grimace, is resiliency,” said first baseman Pete Alonso. “That’s just who we are. We have fun and we enjoy the moment, but at the end of the day, we’re a resilient bunch, and we respond in a very positive way.” For a brief moment, there was hope for the home team. After Shohei Ohtani teed off on Quintana to start the game, Mark Vientos evened the score with one of his own off Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the pitcher who spurned the Mets for the Dodgers, in the bottom of the inning. Quintana gave up two more runs in the third, but it could have been worse without the defense-saving runs behind him. The Amazins’ cut the lead to one in the bottom of the inning, but that was as close as they would come. The Mets have a tough time playing to their own strengths against the Dodgers. A long lineup full of patient hitters that don’t chase breaking balls out of the zone, the Mets’ pitching staff has been unable to work ahead in the count and throw strikes. Four pitchers walked nine hitters, including Max Muncy three times. Muncy is a perfect example of how the Dodgers operate at the plate. The first baseman didn’t swing at a single pitch outside of the zone in Game 4, setting a record for reaching base in 12 consecutive plate appearances. “This is a team that controls the strike zone as well as anybody in the league,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “Not only do they do that, but when they force you in the zone they can do some damage. And they’ve done that. They did it again today. They controlled the strike zone, they forced Quintana to come in on the strike zone and when he did, they made him pay.” The Dodgers pitching staff has been able to get out of trouble with traffic on the bases. The big hits that came in the first two rounds of the playoffs have gone for outs in the third. One night after leaving eight men on base, the Mets stranded 12. “Take the first game out of it, the rest of the time, we’ve put a lot of pressure on them,” said outfielder Brandon Nimmo. “We just haven’t gotten that big hit. Sometimes that happens, and sometimes they execute, but also sometimes you get hard-hit balls right at people and it just doesn’t work out.” Down one run in the bottom of the third, they left two on base. Down five in the bottom of the sixth, the Mets loaded the bases on Even Phillips with none out, only to go down in order against Blake Treinen. Jose Iglesias struck out, pinch-hitter Jeff McNeil popped one up to shallow center field and Jesse Winker pinch-hit a fly ball back to the right field warning track, but it didn’t carry enough and landed in the glove of Mookie Betts for the third out. “They executed,” said shortstop Francisco Lindor. “We haven’t.” Betts killed the Mets, going 4-for-6 with four RBI, a home run, a double and three runs scored. His two-run double in the top of the fourth was the key play of the game. After Quintana put two on with one out in the fourth, the Mets, down 3-2, pulled him for Butto, the struggling right-hander who came in having allowed four earned runs in only 4 2/3 postseason innings. With two right-handers coming up, the Mets played the matchups. Facing Betts, he threw two sliders in the dirt in an attempt to get the outfielder to chase. Betts didn’t bite. Forced to throw a fastball, he left it over the plate and Betts drilled it into the left field corner to clear the bases. “I’m looking for a ground ball, the two-seam right there,” Mendoza said. “Just got behind in the count and left one up.” The Mets fell behind 5-2. Quintana was charged with all five runs. He walked four and struck out two over 3 1/3 innings. Betts later homered off Phil Maton in the sixth, putting the Dodgers up 7-2. Danny Young gave up three runs in the top of the eighth, sending a sellout crowd to the turnstiles. It’s do-or-die Game 5. The Mets believe in each other and they know what they’re capable of. “If you have no belief, then you shouldn’t be here,” Lindor said. “What we want, we’ve got to fight for it.”