NEW YORK – Home runs sent Shohei Ohtani over home plate twice on Thursday.

Each time, the Dodgers slugger greeted fellow superstar Mookie Betts with the most common phrase in professional baseball: “Let’s go.”

In the first inning, Ohtani uttered the words matter-of-factly, as encouragement, as a plan of attack. Just moments earlier, Los Angeles' leadoff man had started NLCS Game 4 confidently, burning the second pitch he saw in the Mets' bullpen to hit a 117.9 mph home run, the third-hardest All-time playoff home run. Citi Field watched in cold silence as the Dodgers, already leading 2-1 in the series, took an early lead.

Betts, who was scheduled to bat at second, waited for his teammate to float around the bases. Ohtani hopped his foot off the bowl, gave Betts a high-five, and said those two cliched but occasionally meaningful words.

Five innings later, the scene played out again, in reverse order. During this pass, Betts silenced the crowd. With his Dodgers leading by three and the contest technically still in limbo, Betts hit a home run of his own into the left field, giving LA a commanding 7-2 lead it would not relinquish. Ohtani, fresh from a well-deserved walk, jogged home a few beats ahead of Betts. The two high-fived again and again Ohtani let out a “let’s go.”

But this time Ohtani's words sounded full of gleeful incredulity and comic disbelief. It was almost a laugh. There was plenty to be happy about; Ohtani, who had never played before that October, knew he would soon have a single win in the World Series.

Los Angeles' MVP tandem carried the load in Game 4, which ended in laughter with the visitors winning by a score of 10-2. Ohtani and Betts scored the team's seven runs and gave the Dodgers a three-to-one lead in this NLCS. Ohtani finished the night 1-for-3 with three walks. Betts was 4 of 6 with four RBI.

Thanks to them, the Dodgers can taste it.

“I was trying to stay balanced and all those things.” Betts said after the game: “At a time like this, that doesn't really work, so you just have to jump on the rollercoaster and enjoy the ride.”

But the Mets didn't fold, at least not right away.

Third baseman Mark Vientos responded to Ohtani's leadoff shot with a solo home run in the bottom of the first. And for a few innings there was some semblance of a ball game. Los Angeles scored twice in the third against Mets lefty Jose Quintana, who allowed more runs on Thursday (five) than in the last eight weeks combined. Once again, New York struck back, firing a shot off a Brandon Nimmo fielder's choice down the frame. The OMG Mets threatened to wait and see.

But Quintana wasn't having it. The Colombian southpaw gave up two more runs in the fourth on an RBI double from Betts. The game continued from there until Betts made the breakthrough in the sixth, sending one to the moon. At this point, all Ohtani could do was giggle a “Let’s go!”

The two stars, whose contracts total $1.065 billion, took very different paths to their night of shared dominance after the season.

Betts is now familiar with the October phase. His home run in Game 4 was the seventh of his playoff career and came in his 67th career playoff game. These days, the shiny dome right fielder is undeniably comfortable under the brightest lights, but it wasn't always that way. In his first 97 postseason appearances with the Red Sox, Betts didn't get into the game — until he hit Clayton Kershaw deep in Game 5 of the 2018 World Series.

Ohtani accomplished this feat much quicker, smashing a long ball in his second ever batting attempt in October. While this is all new for the Japanese superstar, who endured six fruitless seasons as an Angel in Anaheim, he is clearly no stranger to the brightest lights. His first few playoff games after that initial cacophonous explosion produced strange results. Before his tater on Thursday, Ohtani had not had a hit this postseason as the bases were empty and he went 7 of 9 with runners in scoring position.

This oddity was just that; Ohtani remains a formidable force no matter the occasion. And on Friday, the Mets will have to deal with him and Betts at least a few more times. The New York club's improbable run has been fueled at times by an irrational level of confidence. Often these Mets didn't know when they were getting beat, so they just came back and won.

Maybe there's another twist to this story, but right now everything feels different. Mets hitters look tired. The bullpen, overwhelmed and undermanned, can't find a way out, and the 43,882 players who struggled on a sharp, cold night seemed resigned to the fate of their beloved club.

After the game, a Mets clubhouse employee rolled a basket full of items from the dugout to the locker room. Inside the container were a pair of gloves, a bat and the giant plastic “OMG” sign that the team used as a totem after home runs. If New York can't turn things around tomorrow, that employee can take the sign all the way to the warehouse.

Ohtani and Betts hope that will be the case.

The two represent the overwhelming power of this Dodgers squad. Playoff baseball is often about the little things: platoon advantages, bullpen schedules, a surprise hero or two. Teams tirelessly scout each other, looking for the slightest potential advantage. Games are broken down by pitch and hyper-analyzed under a microscope.

But on Thursday, Los Angeles reminded everyone that having two of the game's best players is also a damn good strategy.