The Los Angeles Dodgers showed why they were the best team in the 2024 MLB regular season as they beat down the New York Mets 9-0 in Game 1 of their National League Championship Series on Sunday night.
The Dodgers wasted no time putting points on the board, as they quickly loaded the bases in the first inning and got out to an early 2-0 lead that only grew as the game wore on. More importantly, Los Angeles got more than a glimmer of hope from their starting rotation and have reason to be confident that their pitchers can lead them to wins the rest of the way out.
Let’s examine the positives and negatives that came with L.A.’s convincing win over New York in Game 1.
Good news: Dodgers’ Max Muncy became their latest slugger to come up big in the playoffs
The Dodgers showed no fear when up against Mets ace Kodai Senga. After Shohei Ohtani grounded out to second base to kick things off for L.A. in the bottom of the first, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernandez all made Senga think twice about his pitches and loaded the bases after each getting walked. A golden opportunity presented itself for the Dodgers to get out to a massive lead from the onset, and Muncy delivered with a huge 2 RBI single to center field that brought Betts and Freeman home.
The 34-year-old’s heroics got Dodger Stadium amped up and set the tone for Los Angeles the rest of the way out. Muncy’s timely hits also proliferated into their pitching ranks and gave the Dodgers momentum. Throughout the playoffs, L.A. has been fueled by timely hits from Ohtani, efficient slugging from Freeman and Hernandez, and solid contributions at the end of their order from Gavin Lux. This time, Muncy, who had hit a paltry .167 in the NLDS against the San Diego Padres — came out of his slump.
It is the team’s hope that the Texas native can use this as a jumping-off point to deliver in the middle of the Dodgers’ batting order moving forward. L.A. leads with their four best hitters and all of them are elite at getting on base. Muncy doing work out of the sixth slot behind catcher Will Smith could make him the X-Factor in this series moving forward, in the event that he consistently plays the way he did on Sunday night.
Good news: Jack Flaherty is back
Jack Flaherty came out in Game 1 ready to put his poor showing in the NLDS behind him. Boy did he do so. The Dodgers’ playoff ace played exactly like that. He looked confident on the mound, his mechanics were sound, and he did what it took to keep the potent Mets sluggers at bay through seven innings of work.
The 28-year-old earned the win on the night, tossing six strikeouts and allowing only two hits with a great 2.92 ERA. The California native did not see more than three batters in any inning until the fourth, and only walked two sluggers in Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo on the entire affair. He proved that his elite 5.9 percent walk rate from the regular season — which ranked in the 83rd percentile at his position — was no fluke.
Flaherty did have a tendency to markedly throw out and away of the strike zone on some of his pitches, which could be a point of focus for him to clean up in his next start at the tail end of the series, should it go beyond four games. Nevertheless, with the way the Dodgers’ rotation set a poor standard in the NLDS, Flaherty’s dominant outing is the biggest form of encouragement that the franchise could have received amid their injury-riddled roster and, up until that point, their need for talent other than Yoshinobu Yamamoto to step up in a major way.
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Bad news: The Dodgers could have been even more dominant with a couple of tweaks
For all it’s worth, the Dodgers can’t ask for much more than a 9-0 win in Game 1 of the NLCS. However, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts won’t be in their team meeting on Monday continually patting his players on the back as if they had won the World Series. There are still a couple of things that could have been improved upon despite holding New York scoreless.
Smith had an uncharacteristically bad day at the plate, hitting .105 on the game. Per Fox Sports: MLB on X, Ohtani was caught stealing second base at the end of the second inning for the first time since July 22. Plus, as previously noted, Flaherty threw a couple of sloppy pitches that, if amended in short order, could lead to him dominating even more in his next start.
Perfection is hard to attain, especially in the playoffs, but if the Dodgers can make good on those minor areas that need addressing, they could very well protect the home field and take a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Mets before the NLCS shifts to Citi Field.
