The least stressful postseason game ever

Game 1 was perfect

Obviously I love watching the Dodgers in October, but I hate the feeling I get with every game. I’m on edge with every pitch and my stress levels are through the roof. Watching postseason baseball is a lot and I don’t recommend it for those who can’t handle it.

That wasn’t the case last night.

I have watched a lot of Dodgers postseason games, but I can’t recall a game in which I wasn’t stressed really at all.

Jack Flaherty’s dominance

After a rough postseason debut with the Dodgers, Jack Flaherty delivered one of the greatest starts we’ve seen from a Dodgers pitcher EVER in October.

He tossed seven scoreless innings, striking out six while allowing only two hits. He generated 11 swing-and-misses and had a called strike/whiff percentage of 29. To put it simply, Flaherty was truly dominant.

He became only the fourth Dodgers starter EVER in October to throw seven scoreless innings while allowing two or fewer hits. He joined Zack Greinke (2014) Clayton Kershaw (2016, 2018) and Walker Buehler (2018).

When looking at ‘Game Score’, a metric that grades your pitching performance, Flaherty’s score of 77 was tied for the 10th best by a Dodgers starter in postseason history. Since 1988, only six other starters have had a score that high.

It was an incredible outing.

This wasn’t a slouch of an offense, either. The Mets’ offense just went through the Phillies with ease and have been incredible going all the way back to May. There are a number of studs in that lineup. It didn’t matter for Flaherty. He made them look like a Single-A team last night.

With a depleted starting rotation, Flaherty giving this kind of an outing was massive. After he struggled in the NLDS, many people (myself included) were worried about what exactly the Dodgers would be getting from him this series. With the way the rotation lines up, he’ll be making at least two starts this series. Seeing what he did last night is a massive confidence boost moving forward.

Not only was Flaherty’s outing great because it helped the Dodgers win the game, it also really helped the team out in regards to their starting rotation moving forward.

Since Flaherty shoved, it allowed the Dodgers to refrain from using any of their high-leverage bullpen arms. Because of that, they’ll run a bullpen game today. The reason why that is so beneficial is because Tuesday is an off-day. The Dodgers can use all their bullpen arms today, if needed, and get a full day of rest before Game 3.

Walker Buehler will get the start in Game 3 and hopefully he can eat some innings as well, saving some arms. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will go in Game 4 and then Flaherty will go once again in Game 5.

Had Flaherty only gone 4-5 innings, they would have used a number of high-leverage arms most likely, meaning Buehler would have been needed to go in Game 2. If you run a bullpen game in Game 3, you risk using all your top arms with Yamamoto going in Game 4.

Flaherty truly saved the pitching plans for the entire series with his outing last night. I can’t stress enough how massive of a performance that was from him last night.

The offense backed him up

Getting seven scoreless innings from Flaherty was huge, but the offense is what really put this one away.

They scored nine runs on nine hits. They drew seven walks. It was the 6th game in Dodgers postseason history where they put up that line.

Despite scoring nine runs, the team actually didn’t hit a home run. Their nine runs are tied for the second most ever in a postseason game without hitting a home run. Back in the 2020 NLDS against the Padres, the Dodgers scored 12 runs somehow without a single homer.

For the game, the team went 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Who is this team?! I mean, seriously??? The Dodgers are actually hitting with runners in scoring position? What planet am I on!?

For years, we’ve seen the Dodgers struggle with runners in scoring position in October. They’ve had stretches where they go like 0-for-20. Well, that’s not the case this year. When guys get on base, they’re actually bringing them in.

Almost everyone in the lineup had a big game last night. Shohei Ohtani had two hits and drew a walk. He also barely missed hitting two home runs. Max Muncy had his first two-RBI game of the postseason. Mookie Betts drove in three runs, tying his postseason career-high. Freddie Freeman had a two-hit day. Tommy Edman had an RBI single and an incredible sacrifice bunt.

It was truly a team effort from top to bottom.

I wrote about this after Game 1 of the NLDS and I’ll say it again. If the Dodgers offense shows up, they’ll win. With the way the pitching staff is currently rolling, the Dodgers only need a couple of runs a game to win. Now, I don’t want a repeat of Game 5 where they scored only two, but if they can just get five runs a game they’ll go undefeated.

HISTORY!

The Dodgers pitching staff is currently on a historic run. Dating back to the third inning of Game 3 of the NLDS, the pitching staff hasn’t allowed a run. Remember that inning from hell in San Diego where the Padres scored six runs? Yeah, the pitching staff hasn’t allowed a run since.

They’ve now thrown a combined 33 consecutive scoreless innings, which ties an MLB postseason record. LA has set the National League record, but they are three outs away from setting a new MLB record that could honestly never be broken.

The previous record was held by the 1966 Orioles, who ironically did it against the Dodgers in the World Series.

The pitching staff has been nothing short of spectacular during this run of dominance. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a collection of arms all be this good at the same time.

I mean, the Dodgers have now tossed three consecutive shutouts. Do you know how hard that is to do?! It’s remarkable. Hopefully the Dodgers can add on to this record and make it four consecutive shutouts.

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