2024-10-14 13:30:03
LOS ANGELES — The Mets were in a hole before they had even gotten settled at Dodger Stadium on Sunday night.
Kodai Senga was ready to go as long as manager Carlos Mendoza would let him in his second start off the 60-day injured list. It turned out that Senga was his own worst enemy in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
Senga could only record four outs and gave up three earned runs as the Mets sputtered to a 9-0 loss to the Dodgers in front of 53,503 fans in the opening game of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.
With Senga’s control putting the Mets behind, Mendoza used four different relievers to record the final 20 outs. The Dodgers also pushed across three more runs off David Peterson in the fourth inning and three off Jose Butto in the eighth.
Meanwhile, the Mets’ offense stumbled out of the gate in their first NLCS game since 2015. Jack Flaherty, who held them without a hit for the first four innings, went on to complete seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts and two hits and two walks allowed.
The Mets, who have had a penchant for the dramatic comeback in these 2024 playoffs, could not dig out from an early deficit in Game 1.
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With the Dodgers rolling to the Game 1 win, here’s our analysis from their victory over the Mets:
Mookie Betts rips game open with three-run double
Every former National League MVP has now gotten in on the act driving in runs for the Dodgers in Game 1.
With the bases loaded and one out against Jose Butto, Mookie Betts knocked a sharp ground ball past a diving Mark Vientos at third base that allowed three runs to score and boost the Dodgers ahead 9-0. The Dodgers were aided in the inning by an error by Pete Alonso, who threw high to second base with a runner on first in the beginning of the frame.
Jack Flaherty shuts down Mets across seven innings
After falling behind by six runs through four innings, the Mets were not able to mount any response against the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty.
Flaherty finished with seven scoreless innings, with two hits and two walks allowed while striking out six Mets batters. He retired the final eight batters he faced.
Jesse Winker’s baserunning gaffe costs Mets potential run
Jesse Winker picked up the Mets’ first hit of the game against the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty to lead off the top of the fifth inning.
But Winker ran into trouble on a bloop single into center field as he rounded second base and stopped as Kike Hernandez fielded a looping single from Jose Iglesias. Hernandez’s throw went to second and Winker was caught in between the bases and thrown out at third. The Mets were held scoreless after back-to-back fly balls and trail the Dodgers 6-0.
Dodgers keep adding on against David Peterson
Shohei Ohtani is making his impact felt in Game 1.
After poking an RBI single in the second inning to run the Mets’ Kodai Senga from the game, Ohtani helped tack on a run by tagging a hanging curveball from David Peterson off the wall. Tommy Edman scored on a bobble by Starilng Marte.
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