Jack Flaherty combined for a three-hitter and Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers tied the postseason record of 33 consecutive scoreless innings as they defeated the New York Mets 9-0 in the NL Championship Series opener on Sunday night.
Los Angeles retired a wild Kodai Senga in the second inning, built a six-run lead in the fourth and tied the scoreless record of Baltimore Orioles pitchers through the first four games of the 1966 World Series against the Dodgers.
Backed by chants of “MVP! MVP!”, Shohei Ohtani was 2 for 4 with a walk while scoring two runs and driving in another.
Flaherty allowed two hits in seven innings in the Dodgers’ first scoreless postseason start of seven-plus innings since Clayton Kershaw’s eight innings in the 2020 NL Wild Card Series. Flaherty left to a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd of 53,503. The 28-year-old right-hander from nearby Burbank returned from Detroit at the July 30 trade deadline and has been a steady presence in a rotation hit hard by injuries.
Flaherty retired his first nine batters, extending the Dodgers’ streak of consecutive batters to 28, before Francisco Lindor walked a fourth inning. New York’s only hits off him were a pair of singles by Jesse Winker and Jose Iglesias in the fifth. Flaherty struck out six.
Lindor went 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout and Pete Alonso went hitless in three at bats with a walk and a strikeout.
The Dodgers rallied from the brink of elimination against San Diego to win the NL Division Series in five games with shutouts in the final two games.
They opened their pursuit of a record 25th NL pennant by chasing Senga one and a third innings into his third start in an injury-riddled year. The Japanese right-hander walked four of his first eight batters, including three in a row in a 14-pitch span in the first inning.
In the first inning, only seven of Senga’s 23 pitches were thrown due to strikes and he loaded the bases. Max Muncy singled up the middle to score Betts and a hobbling Freddie Freeman, who touched the plate with his left foot to protect his sprained right ankle. He staggered into the arms of Betts, who restrained the much larger Freeman.
Ohtani chased Senga with an RBI single in the second and the Dodgers scored three runs in the fourth off David Peterson, while Tommy Edman and Freeman had RBI singles.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Monday.