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    • The Dodgers are in good shape in NLCS vs. Mets after Jack Flaherty’s gem in Game 1
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    The Dodgers are in good shape in NLCS vs. Mets after Jack Flaherty’s gem in Game 1

    Idris Bevan Posted on

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    LOS ANGELES – Jack Flaherty grew up in Los Angeles. In high school, he played at Dodger Stadium and dreamed of one day being a Dodger.

    But even in his wildest dreams he could never imagine a night like this.

    Flaherty delivered one of the best pitching performances in Dodgers postseason history, allowing just two hits in seven innings, leading the Dodgers to a 9-0 victory over the New York Mets in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday night led Dodger Stadium.

    “It was,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “just a pitching clinic.”

    Flaherty’s performance led to the Dodgers’ third consecutive shutout this postseason, a feat previously accomplished only by the 1966 Baltimore Orioles and the 1905 New York Giants. The Dodgers have now thrown 33 consecutive shutout innings, tying the 1966 Orioles for the longest postseason shutout streak. (Baltimore did this against the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series.)

    “What these guys have done is just unbelievable,” Dodgers center fielder Kevin Kiermaier said. “I’ve been on teams with great pitching staffs, but doing that back-to-back and shutting down power offenses is something I’ve never experienced.

    “I don’t think any of us did that in the postseason.”

    The Dodgers don’t have Hall of Famer Jim Palmer or Dave McNally or four 20-game winners on the same team as the pitching-powerful Orioles of old.

    To be honest, the Dodgers don’t even have four healthy starters.

    But since Game 3 of the National League Division Series, when they gave up six runs in the second inning against the San Diego Padres, the pitching staff has been virtually unbeatable.

    They have posted a .127 batting average since that inning and at one point have retired 27 batters in a row. The Mets managed just three singles on Sunday, with their top five hitters Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos, Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso and Starling Marte going 0 for 17 with seven strikeouts.

    The Dodgers shut down the opponent so systematically that rookie Ben Casparius, who entered the game in the ninth inning, had no idea that the Dodgers were just one inning away from setting an all-time scoring record.

    “I didn’t know until I walked into the clubhouse,” Casparius said, reaching into his locker and showing off the authentic baseball. “I have to keep this one.”

    The Dodgers have now used 11 different pitchers during the streak, with Casparius making his postseason debut for the record-setting inning.

    “We are very proud of that,” said Casparius. “We don’t talk openly about how dominant we were in the penalty area because it’s a new game, a new situation, but it’s very special.”

    But really, that night meant more to Flaherty than it did to anyone wearing a Dodgers uniform.

    Flaherty grew up in LA and had longtime friends from Sherman Oaks Little League and Harvard-Westlake High School in the stands. While his mother sat behind home plate, he threw the game of his life at Dodger Stadium.

    It was his best performance at Dodger Stadium since he pitched a six-hit shutout in the championship game between Harvard and Westlake as a junior in 2017.

    “Man, those were the days,” Flaherty said, “those were the best days we had.” I still have my friends that I played with and saw a few of them there in the stands. Just really cool. It shows you that you never know how long the children you play with will continue to be your friends.

    “I was lucky enough to be friends with some of them, some of my closest friends, for a long time. “These guys are family.”

    When Flaherty left the field after 98 pitches in the seventh inning and the sellout crowd of 53,503 sensed he had thrown his last pitch, he was greeted with a thunderous standing ovation as his teammates mobbed him in the dugout.

    He couldn’t help but grin broadly and looked back at his mother, who was fighting back tears.

    “You can’t really put it into words,” Flaherty said. “But being able to be here and have some family in the stands and see some family out there warming up just makes you relax a little bit.

    “At least that’s how it was for me tonight.

    “It was hard not to smile.”

    Flaherty, who was gifted to the Dodgers from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline and almost became a Yankee until they balked at his physicality, is now part of the Dodgers’ postseason pitching history. He used to come to Dodger Stadium and watch his heroes, and now here he is, teammate with his idol, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw.

    “No matter what people want to say about his postseason numbers,” Flaherty said, “he had a hell of a lot of good numbers.” And he was an absolute stud throughout his career.

    “To get a hug from him afterwards and show me it was a really good job is special. Things you can’t imagine…

    “He takes the ball and wants the ball every time. You watch him, you’re around him and you watch how he works, how he goes about his business, and he’s just that much more special. “This guy is second to none.”

    Flaherty’s heroics allow the Dodgers to play a bullpen game in Game 2 on Monday, Roberts said, saving starter Walker Buehler for Game 3 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Game 4.

    Considering how the Dodgers mishandled the Mets, with the most lopsided Game 1 shutout win since the Chicago Cubs in 1984, who knows if they even need to plan beyond the final four games.

    “It’s just about playing our game,” said Dodgers All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman, who is dealing with a severe ankle sprain that requires treatment for four and a half hours every day. He still produced two hits, drove in a run and scored a run.

    “It’s not about stepping on the gas for us. It’s about applying pressure,” Freeman said.

    The Dodgers learned the hard way in 2021 when they won a grueling five-game NL Division Series against the San Francisco Giants. Just when they thought they would overtake Atlanta in the NLCS, they were beaten in six games and watched Atlanta put on a World Series parade while staying at home.

    “We learned a lot from this,” Dodgers All-Star right fielder Mookie Betts said. “We beat a really good team and then we thought we would reset and get back into the flow. It didn’t work out that way.

    “It was a great learning experience for all of us.

    “We know it’s not over yet.”

    It just felt that way.

    Follow Bob Nightengale on X: @BNightengale

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    Idris Bevan
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