The Los Angeles Dodgers began the National League Championship Series (NLCS) in impressive fashion on Sunday, routing the New York Mets 9-0 at Dodger Stadium and tying an MLB playoff record in the process.
The shutout victory means that the Dodgers have now pitched 33 consecutive scoreless innings, tying the record set by the Baltimore Orioles across Games 1-4 of the 1966 World Series, in which they swept the Dodgers with future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer in the rotation.
Jack Flaherty was the dominant force on the mound this time, pitching seven innings and giving up just two hits and two walks while striking out six. He became the first Dodgers pitcher since Clayton Kershaw in 2020 to record a scoreless playoff start of seven or more innings.
“It’s been just picking up where the last guy left off,” Flaherty said afterwards, according to MLB.com. “You know that the guy coming in after you has got your back. And that’s why this whole team has felt like everybody is just feeding off of each other right now.”
By the time the 28-year-old had allowed a man on base, it was the fourth inning and the Dodgers were up 3-0; Francisco Lindor’s walk was the first time in 29 at-bats that a batter had gotten the better of an LA pitcher.
Only three other franchises have retired 27 or more consecutive batters in a single postseason – the 1926 St Louis Cardinals, the 1939 Cincinnati Reds and the New York Yankees in 1927, 1956 and 2004.
“They just went out there and dominated,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said of the pitching staff, per MLB.com. “I’m back there calling the pitches, but it’s all those guys executing what we’re deciding. We’re just trying to keep it going.”
It was a different story for the Mets’ Kodai Senga, who was pulled early in the second inning having faced just 10 hitters and giving up three runs. Max Muncy’s two-run single kicked things off in the first, and Shohei Ohtani’s RBI single in the second was the final nail in the coffin for his countryman, who was making just his third start of the year after an injury-plagued regular season.
The rest of the Dodgers’ runs were split evenly between the fourth and the eighth innings. The former saw RBI singles from Tommy Edman and Freddie Freeman, either side of an RBI double from Ohtani.
Mookie Betts’ double in the eighth cleared the bases and completed the 9-0 blowout, ensuring the Dodgers picked up the fourth-largest shutout win in playoff history.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven NLCS takes place Monday at Dodger Stadium.