Last night the Mets traveled to LA to take on the Dodgers for the first game of the National League Championship Series by the score of 9-0.
Jack Flaherty dominated the before red-hot bats of the Mets. He pitched seven innings, letting up just two hits and striking out six. He left to a standing ovation in the seventh handing things off to Daniel Hudson.
“I saw some family out there when I was warming up and I had gone to games here with them before, so it just kind of lets you relax a little bit,” Flaherty said postgame. “Felt I tried to do too much the last couple times out in some big games. Just allowed me to be myself and just go out and pitch and trust my stuff and trust the guys behind me.”
Dave Roberts, the Dodgers manager said after the game, “It was just a pitching clinic, I thought he did a great job of filling up the strike zone with his complete mix. Once we caught a lead, he did a great job of just going after those guys and attacking. For us to get seven innings in a long series was huge.”
The Dodgers also got a massive boost from star shortstop Mookie Betts who had one of his best games of the playoffs. Despite batting just 1-4, with three men on Betts cleared the bases with a double down the third base line. LA played nine innings of old-school baseball, scoring nine runs without a home run and using just three pitchers.
The Mets must look to bounce back to avoid a 0-2 deficit. Game 2 is set for this afternoon at 4:08 p.m. EST. Ryan Brasier will be on the mound for Los Angeles while Sean Manaea gets the start for New York.
