Mike Celizic

The New York Mets lost their No. 1 starting pitcher, Pedro Martinez. Then they lost the man who was going to take his place on the mound in Game 1 of the playoffs, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. So they sent out a rookie and won anyway.

It’s just one game, but the outcome of this NLDS already looks like a done deal. If the Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t win this one, how are they going to win three of the remaining four games in the series?

There are a lot of reasons for the Dodgers, who spent Wednesday night kicking themselves over their own stupidity, to carry hope into Game 2. Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew, who have a combined 24 years in the major leagues, ran into two outs at home plate on the same play; to say it was a Little League moment is an insult to Little Leaguers.

They scored four runs off the Mets bullpen, including one off closer Billy Wagner in the ninth. And they had the tying run at second when Nomar Garciaparra struck out to end the game. This, they’re telling themselves, was a game they could have won.

They have to think that way, because that’s what makes them professional athletes. But the rest of us don’t have to join them, because the bottom line on Game 1 is that the Mets showed why they had the best regular-season record in the National League: They’re not just a little bit better than everyone else, but a lot better. And if the Dodgers hope to beat them, they’re not going to have to play a little better than they did Wednesday, but a lot better.

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Start with John Maine, the rookie pitcher who took just 17 career decisions and eight lifetime wins to the mound. He didn’t even pitch five innings, getting the hook after putting two on with one out in the fifth inning. It wasn’t that he pitched badly; he had given up only one run. But Mets manager Willie Randolph thought the kid was tiring a little and didn’t want to take any chances, not with 12 pitchers on the roster and the bullpen rested. So Randolph had the luxury of using four pitchers to get four outs at absolutely critical points in the game.

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The bullpen didn’t exactly lock down on the Dodgers after that fifth inning, allowing L.A. to come back from three runs down to tie it at 4-4, but it never let L.A. get ahead.

Then take that play at the plate. Despite Kent’s late start on a ball that sailed far over right fielder Sean Green’s head, it took a great throw by Green, a perfect relay by Jose Valentin and quick reflexes by catcher Paul Lo Duca to get the two outs. And the Mets did all of that.