LOS ANGELES (Interstat) — Shohei Ohtani delivered a dominant pitching performance and Dalton Rushing broke the game open with a grand slam as the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the struggling New York Mets with an 8-2 victory Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

A crowd of 50,909 watched the Dodgers improve their major league-best record to 14-4, while the Mets fell to 7-12, having lost eight of their last nine games.

The most important sequence of the game came in the bottom of the eighth inning, transforming a tight contest into a rout. Leading 3-1, the Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs against Mets reliever Tobias Myers on a single by Teoscar Hernández, a walk to Max Muncy and a sharp single by Andy Pages. Rushing, the Dodgers’ designated hitter, then drove a 1-1 offering from Myers deep to center field for a grand slam, his fourth home run of the season, to give Los Angeles a commanding 7-1 lead. Two batters later, Kyle Tucker added a solo shot to right field, capping a five-run outburst that put the game out of reach.

Ohtani, the Dodgers’ two-way star, was the story for the first six innings, earning the win to move to 2-0. He overpowered the Mets’ lineup, allowing just one run on two hits over six innings while striking out 10. He walked two. The only damage against him came in the fifth inning when MJ Melendez hit a ground-rule double to score Carson Benge, tying the game 1-1 at the time.

The Dodgers’ offense provided Ohtani with early support. After being held in check by Mets starter Clay Holmes through the first inning, Los Angeles struck in the second. Rushing doubled with two outs, and shortstop Hyeseong Kim followed with a two-run homer to right-center field, his first of the year, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

Holmes, the losing pitcher who fell to 2-2, settled in after the Kim homer. He worked five innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out four. He kept the Mets within striking distance until the Dodgers’ bullpen and late offense took over.

Los Angeles added a critical insurance run in the sixth off Myers. Hernández led off the inning with a solo home run to right-center, his fourth of the season, to extend the lead to 3-1.

The Mets, who managed only five hits total, threatened in the seventh. Benge doubled and advanced to third with two outs, but Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott entered and struck out Melendez to end the inning. New York scratched across a final run in the ninth against Kyle Hurt. Bo Bichette singled, Francisco Alvarez was hit by a pitch, and Marcus Semien delivered an RBI single. Hurt then struck out Carson Benge and MJ Melendez to end the game.

The Dodgers’ bullpen was effective following Ohtani’s departure. Scott pitched a perfect seventh, Blake Treinen worked a scoreless eighth, and Hurt closed it out in the ninth despite allowing the one run.

The victory continued the Dodgers’ early-season dominance, particularly at home, while deepening the Mets’ early-season woes. New York has scored just three total runs in the three-game series sweep.

According to pregame projections by Interstat, the Dodgers were forecast with a 68.3% probability to win, with a projected final score of 6-3. The actual total of 10 runs went under the betting over/under line of 8.

The Mets now travel to Chicago to open a three-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Friday. The Dodgers head to Denver to begin a four-game set with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, also on Friday.