Dodgers 9 Mets 0 (Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA)
Series status: Mets down 0-1 in best of seven NLCS
WP - Jack Flaherty (1-1)
LP - Kodai Senga (0-1)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Jack Flaherty was outstanding in a start that the Dodgers had to have with Sean Manaea facing what would have likely been a bullpen day in Game 2. His seven shutout innings led the Dodgers to a 6-0 Game 1 victory that the Mets never had a chance in.
Need to Know
Kodai Senga's start was horrific, facing just 10 batters in 1 and 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on two hits and four walks and no strikeouts in 30 pitches.
Jack Flaherty was the first Dodger pitcher to go six innings in a playoff game since Max Scherzer did it in 2021, a span of 21 playoff games.
Tonight was also the first time Flaherty went into the 7th inning since September 8th, a 7 and 1/3 inning start against the Guardians.
Outside of the 5th inning when the Mets got singles from Jesse Winker and Jose Iglesias, the Mets had one hit the rest of the way, a single by Francisco Alvarez in the 8th.
The top three in the Dodgers order earned their money tonight, going 5-for-11 with three walks and four runs. Neither Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, nor Freddie Freeman struck out once, and the trio drove in five runs (three of them coming late on a Mookie Betts double when the game was already decided.)
Dodgers pitching has now thrown 33 straight shutout innings, a playoff record, since giving up six runs to the Padres in Game 3 of the NLDS. They have also scored 23 runs without giving up an opponents run. The playoff record is 25 by the 1996 Braves.
Jeff McNeil saw his first action since September 6th when he suffered a broken wrist. McNeil lined out to center field as a pinch hitter in the 8th.
The Mets are 5-4 in playoff series where they lost the first game (not counting the one game playoff in 2016 where they lost to the Giants.)
Turning Point
Senga was an out away from getting out of an inning in which he walked the bases loaded. And the Dodgers should have had a run on a sac fly by Will Smith, but Mookie Betts stopped and went back to third after that second out. One more out would have given the Mets a huge lift in the bottom of the first inning.
But Max Muncy got a cutter, the only pitch that Senga has landing for strikes so perhaps Muncy was looking for it. He lined it for a two run single that put the wheels in motion for a disappointing night.
Three Keys
Jack Of Speeds
Flaherty had the Mets befuddled all night. As the Dodgers offense was putting up runs against Senga and Peterson, Flaherty wasn't giving the Mets any hope, using a good mix of pitches to confuse the Mets, and a knuckle curve that was on point.
Flaherty gave up two hits and two walks in seven innings, striking out six in 98 pitches. He was perfect through three, and didn't give up a hit until the 5th, and even that didn't hurt him, but more on that later.
Downhill From The Start
The first inning was horrendous for Senga. He walked three, but he wasn't missing by millimeters. He was missing by counties. You can see him being careful with Mookie Betts, who was 3-for-3 against him with a homer in his brief career. But Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez walked without breaking a sweat. As previously mentioned, the cutter was the only pitch that was landing, so it made it easy for Muncy to sit on it and drive it to center to put the Dodgers on the board and deflate the Mets.
At 23 pitches in the first, it was a significant surprise that Senga came out for the second inning. He wasn't any better, walking Gavin Lux to start the frame. After Tommy Edman got him over, up came Shohei Ohtani. Senga retired Shohei to start the game, but this seemed to be the perfect time to bring in Peterson to face Ohtani, if not start the inning with Peterson altogether. Instead ...
Of course, the argument that Peterson should have been in earlier to face Ohtani as much as possible holds less weight now since when Peterson did face Ohtani in the fourth, he hit a 116.5 mph single off Peterson.
OMG ... And Not In a Good Way
The one flicker of hope that the Mets had came in the 5th when Jesse Winker led off the inning with a single, and Jose Iglesias placed one into left center field to get two runners on. Winker was rounding second on the play and he had a choice. Choice One was to stop at second, prudent as the Mets were down by six. Choice Two was to go to third, and if he had done that, he would have easily been safe.
Winker chose Choice Three, which was to try to both stop and go at once. It didn't go well.
Enrique Hernandez threw behind Winker and made Choice Three an absolute disaster. The Mets would go down meekly to end the frame and end any hope of a comeback off Flaherty. It was more 0-5 than OMG.
It makes Game 2 a must have with Manaea vs Johnny Wholestaff.
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