Projecting the dream Mets rotation to come back from 2-1 NLCS deficit

The New York Mets took one on the chin in Game 3 of the NLCS, getting blanked in an 8-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers despite a raucous home crowd at Citi Field. If there's a silver lining here, it's that this Mets team knows how to pick itself off the mat: They had to overcome their Atlanta demons and win one of the craziest games in recent memory just to make the postseason in the first place, and they needed an instantly iconic ninth-inning homer from Pete Alonso just to make it out of the Wild Card round. By all accounts, New York shouldn't even be here, and they won't be deterred by one loss.

Still, with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Co. on the other side, the Mets will have their work cut out for them, starting in Game 4 on Thursday night. Manager Carlos Mendoza has some tough decisions ahead of him if he's going to lead his team out of this 2-1 hole — here's how he should handle his pitching rotation for the remainder of the series.

Game 4: Jose Quintana

This one's easy: Quintana was sensational down the stretch of the regular season for New York, and he still hasn't allowed an earned run in 11 innings across two starts so far in October. The only reason he isn't a bigger name right now is a couple of flukes of timing: His six shutout innings in Game 3 of the Wild Card series against the Brewers were overshadowed by Alonso's last-minute heroics, and his rock-solid effort in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Phillies got immediately forgotten the minute Francisco Lindor's grand slam landed in the visiting bullpen.

But Quintana has been nearly as great as Manaea during this magical run, and he'll need to deliver one more time to pitch the Mets back into this series. He faced the Dodgers previously this season, allowing three runs over six innings in a loss back in late May.

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Game 5: David Peterson

This one, on the other hand, remains very much up in the air. This would ordinarily be Kodai Senga's turn in the rotation, and Mendoza has already confirmed that Senga will pitch at some point in Game 5. But after putting the Mets in an early hole in his two previous postseason starts, it feels like malpractice to give the righty a third bite at the apple. Senga is the better pitcher in a vacuum, but he's also trying to hit the ground running after missing nearly the entire regular season due to injury, and his command is clearly not all the way back yet.

Peterson got knocked around a bit by the Dodgers in Game 1, but the game had already been more or less decided by that point, and he's been sensational as both a starter and reliever over the last few weeks. Let him get through lefties like Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy, and then bring in Senga in the middle innings and force Dave Roberts to either go to his bench early or face some suboptimal matchups.

Game 6: Sean Manaea

Again, there's not much of a decision here. Manaea was dominant yet again in Game 2, and he'll be on full rest for a game that will either be to save the Mets' season or capture the team's first World Series title in nearly 40 years. As hard as this would've been to believe a few months ago, there's no one that New York would rather have on the mound in this spot.

Game 7 (if necessary): Luis Severino

New York maybe wouldn't feel so great about Severino on the mound in a winner-take-all spot, especially after a rocky start in Game 2, but it's important to note that just about every non-Manaea hand would be on deck here — including Quintana on three days' rest and even Peterson and Senga on two days' rest, considering that they likely won't be going more than two or three innings in Game 5. Severino struggled mightily in his first go-round against L.A., but we've seen him shove earlier in these playoffs, and if he can regain his command, he could do so again on the biggest stage in the sport. Either way, the Mets don't have any other choice.