What you need to know
Dodgers defeat Mets 9-0 in Game 1 and tie an MLB record
Dodgers take 9-0 lead on Mookie Betts’ three-run double
Jack Flaherty puts in a dominant performance for the Dodgers
Dodgers defeat Mets 9-0 in Game 1 of the NLCS and tie an MLB record
The Dodgers had been here before.
Coming off an emotional five-game division series against a National League West opponent. Entering an NL Championship Series against a team with whom they were much less familiar. Four wins from reaching the World Series, and are considered safe favorites to get there. But needing to regroup, and make a 48-hour shift from one series to the next.
In 2021, the Dodgers couldn’t do it. After defeating the San Francisco Giants in Game 5 of the NLDS, they lost Game 1 of the NLCS to the Atlanta Braves two days later. They never recovered. Their October ended early.
This year, the club faced an eerily similar set of circumstances, just with less travel.
On Friday, they experienced the high point of their season so far, knocking out the San Diego Padres in a winner-take-all game at Dodger Stadium.
Dodgers take 9-0 lead on Mookie Betts’ three-run double
⚾ Dodgers 9, Mets 0 — Eighth inning
Top of the eighth: Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson issued a leadoff walk to Jose Iglesias. Pinch-hitter Jeff McNeil lined out to shortstop Tommy Edman before Francisco Alvarez singled to center field.
Francisco Lindor lined out to center, keeping runners at second and first. Hudson struck out Mark Vientos to end the inning.
Bottom of the eighth: Kiké Hernández hit a leadoff single off José Buttó. Kevin Kiermaier reached first on a fielder’s choice after first baseman Pete Alonso tried to force out Hernández at second base. However, Alonso was charged with an error after his throw to second was too high.
Tommy Edman then lined out to center and Shohei Ohtani walked to lead the bases. Mookie Betts then hit a three-run double down the left-field line to give the Dodgers a 9-0 lead. Chris Taylor grounded out and Teoscar Hernández struck out to send the game to the ninth inning.
Jack Flaherty puts in a dominant performance for the Dodgers
⚾ Dodgers 6, Mets 0 — End of the seventh
Top of the seventh: Pete Alonso grounded out. Kevin Kiermaier then made a jumping catch on the warning track in center field to get Starling Marte out. Jesse Winker then flied out to left.
Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty has thrown seven shutout innings, with two hits, six strikeouts and two walks over 98 pitches. His night is likely done.
The Dodgers have gone a 31 consecutive innings without giving up a run.
Bottom of the seventh: Freddie Freeman grounded out. Danny Young walked Teoscar Hernández and was relieved by José Buttó. Will Smith struck out and Max Muncy flied out.
Dodgers lead Mets 6-0 heading into seventh inning
⚾ Dodgers 6, Mets 0 — End of the sixth inning
Top of the sixth: Jack Flaherty struck out Francisco Lindor and Mark Vientos flied out. Teoscar Hernández had to reach over the wall in left-field foul territory to get Brandon Nimmo out.
Bottom of the sixth: Facing Mets reliever Danny Young, Tommy Edman grounded out. Shohei Ohtani flied out to the warning track in the deepest part of center field and Mookie Betts grounded out.
Mets get first hit off Jack Flaherty in the fifth inning
⚾ Dodgers 6, Mets 0 — End of the fifth inning
Top of the fifth inning: Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty gives up his first hit to start the fifth, with Jesse Winker singling to right field.
Jose Iglesias singled to center, but Winker hesitated between second and third and was thrown out at third by Max Muncy. Kiké Hernández made the play happen, faking like he was going to throw to third, but then throwing to second. With Winker unable to get back to second in time, Gavin Lux threw to Muncy, who tagged out Winker.
Francisco Alvarez lined out to center to end the inning.
Bottom of the fifth: David Peterson walked Will Smith. Max Muncy then flied out to right and Kiké Hernández struck out. Gavin Lux grounded out to end the inning.
Dodgers drive in three more runs to take a 6-0 lead in the fourth
⚾ Dodgers 6, Mets 0 — End of the fourth inning
Top of the fourth: Jack Flaherty walked Francisco Lindor before striking out Mark Vientos. Brandon Nimmo flied out to left field before Pete Alonso drew a two-out walk. Starling Marte flied out to Mookie Betts at the warning track in right field to cap the frame. Flaherty hasn’t allowed a hit over 65 pitches.
Bottom of the fourth: Kiké Hernández led with a sharp single to right and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Gavin Lux. Tommy Edman singled to right to bring home Hernández and make it 4-0 Dodgers.
Shohei Ohtani followed with a single off the wall in right field, scoring the speedy Edman from first to make it 5-0. After Mookie Betts grounded out, Freddie Freeman singled to left, scoring Ohtani to make it 6-0. Teoscar Hernández grounded out to end the inning.
Dodgers lead 3-0 heading into the fourth inning
⚾ Dodgers 3, Mets 0 — End of the third inning
Top of the third: Jose Iglesias flied out to center field and Tyrone Taylor popped out to Will Smith behind home plate. Jack Flaherty struck out Francisco Alvarez for his fourth strikeout over 46 pitches.
Bottom of the third: Freddie Freeman led with a single to right off Mets reliever Reed Garrett. Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith struck out. David Peterson then took over on the mound for the Mets and struck out Max Muncy.
Dodgers extend their lead on Shohei Ohtani’s RBI single
⚾ Dodgers 3, Mets 0 — End of the second inning
Top of the second: Jack Flaherty struck out Pete Alonso and Starling Marte. Jesse Winker grounded out to second base in the 1-2-3 inning. Flaherty hasn’t allowed a hit.
Bottom of the second: Gavin Lux drew a leadoff walk — Kodai Senga’s fourth walk of the game. Tommy Edman moved Lux to second on a sacrifice bunt. Shohei Ohtani then singled on a sharp grounder to right field, scoring Lux to make it 3-0 Dodgers.
Ohtani’s hit ended Senga’s day. Right-handed reliever Reed Garrett took over on the mound for the Mets.
Mookie Betts lined out to second before Ohtani was caught stealing second during Freddie Freeman’s at-bat to end the inning.
Dodgers take early lead on Max Muncy’s two-run single
⚾ Dodgers 2, Mets 0 — End of the first inning
Top of the first: Dodgers starting pitcher got Francisco Lindor to ground out before striking out Mark Vientos. Brandon Nimmo lined out to shortstop Tommy Edman for the third out.
Bottom of the first: Facing Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga, Shohei Ohtani grounded out second base. Senga then walked Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández to load the bases.
Will Smith flied out to center field, but it wasn’t deep enough to bring home Betts. Max Muncy drove in Betts and Freeman on a single to center field.
Kiké Hernández grounded out to cap a 23-pitch inning for Senga.
Dodgers hoping to apply lessons learned from last NLCS appearance
This postseason has a similar feel to 2021 for the Dodgers, who, like they did three years ago, beat a National League West rival in a grueling five-game division series and had one day off before starting the NL Championship Series.
The Dodgers hope the similarities end there, because after beating the San Francisco Giants 2-1 in Game 5 of the 2021 NLDS in Oracle Park, they traveled to Atlanta and lost a pair of one-run games to the Braves en route to an eventual six-game NLCS loss.
“You learn from past experiences, and I think the takeaway [from 2021] is you can’t let your guard down or take your foot off the gas,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It was an exhausting series to beat the Giants and then to get on a plane and play the Braves.
“I don’t really know where our headspace was at that time, but do know we’ve got to keep the momentum, play with that same urgency and not get caught up in, â€Oh, it’s a seven-game series.’ That just can’t happen. That’s one thing we’re very mindful of.”
Third baseman Max Muncy suffered a major left-elbow injury in the last game of the 2021 regular season and did not play in that postseason, but he was in the dugout for every game and could sense a letdown after the first-round win over the Giants.
“We’ve got to keep our fire and intensity from the last series,” Muncy said. “That’s something I’ve seen in the past, where we’ve won a big series, you move on to the next one and you almost let your guard down a little bit. …
“That was something that I saw [in 2021], that you beat a division rival, you’re really, really high and you almost let your guard down, and it gets taken out from underneath your feet.”
KikĂ© Hernández renews his reputation for October heroics: â€This guy always rises’
Reggie Jackson will always be “Mr. October” in the minds of baseball fans, but around these parts, that moniker could be attached to a lesser-known and little heralded Dodgers utility man who seems to do his best work on baseball’s biggest stage.
Kiké Hernández delivered his latest in a long line of autumnal blasts on Friday night, sending a 95-mph fastball from Yu Darvish deep into into the left-field pavilion for a solo home run in the second inning of a 2-0 National League Division Series-clinching Game 5 victory over the San Diego Padres.
And, just for good measure, Hernández moved from center field to third base in the ninth inning and made two nice plays on Donovan Solano and Fernando Tatis Jr. grounders, the latter ending a tense winner-take-all game and igniting wild celebrations of players on the mound and fans amid the sellout crowd of 53,183 in Chavez Ravine.
Not that his teammates expected anything less.
Why Shohei Ohtani should fare better against Mets than he did vs. Padres
If there is one reason for the Dodgers to feel confident that Shohei Ohtani will break out of a mini-slump in the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, it is this: The Mets do not have Yu Darvish.
Darvish was like kryptonite to Ohtani’s bat during the NL Division Series, the San Diego Padres veteran right-hander holding the Dodgers slugger hitless with three strikeouts in six at-bats in which Ohtani failed to hit a ball out of the infield in Games 2 and 5.
Ohtani’s struggles against his countryman, who baffled the presumptive 2024 NL most valuable player with his wide assortment of off-speed pitches, did not prevent the Dodgers from winning a grueling five-game division series against their NL West rivals.
But they seemed to put a drag on the bat of Ohtani, who hit .200 (four for 20) with one home run and four RBIs and struck out 10 times in the series, his biggest hit a three-run homer off Dylan Cease to erase an early three-run deficit in an eventual 7-5 Game 1 victory. Ohtani went two for 15 with eight strikeouts after Game 1.
“I don’t know what it’s like facing my childhood hero or idol — obviously that’s a better question for Shohei as far as the emotions behind that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“But I’m sure something might have bled into it, because he did chase more than he has been. He was more outside the hitting zone than he was in the last six to eight weeks. I don’t know if it was the Darvish factor, but suffice to say, I’m happy that we’ve rid ourselves of Yu Darvish, and we can sort of move forward.”
Bus rides, watch parties and a new mindset: The edge fueling the Dodgers’ playoff run
On the darkest night of their season last week, the Dodgers didn’t linger in their hushed home clubhouse.
The team had just been blown out in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. They’d lost their cool (and watched their home crowd do the same) in a 10-2 rout to the San Diego Padres. But rather than dwell on the disaster, they quickly packed team-branded duffel bags and boarded a charter bus waiting out in the parking lot.
With their season on the line, they were headed to San Diego.
And, this time, they decided as a team to all travel together.
“For as long as I’ve been here, we’ve never taken a team bus to San Diego, ever,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said. “And that’s not a bad thing by any means. But us saying, â€We’re all gonna ride a bus down there, no families, nothing else, just us on a bus,’ It was great.”
Dodgers’ starting pitching plan for NLCS vs. Mets remains a work in progress
The players’ voices were still hoarse. The clubhouse carpet was still sticky.
But, less than 24 hours after a booze-soaked National League Division Series celebration Friday night, the Dodgers were back at Chavez Ravine on Saturday, shifting their focus to Game 1 of the NL Championship Series against the New York Mets on Sunday night.
“We’ve got to play good baseball,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Come with the same intensity, focus and energy that we had this last series.”
Like their opening-round series against the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers’ biggest questions for the best-of-seven NLCS revolve around the pitching staff.
Playoff demons be gone! Dodgers outlast Padres to advance to NLCS
This time, they didn’t choke.
This time, they did the choking.
On a glorious night amid a roiling sea of joyful blue, the Dodgers wrapped their weathered arms around the San Diego Padres on Friday and crushed those brown jerseys like an empty paper sack, eventually exhaling with redemption, relief and a coveted spot just four wins from the World Series.
In the winner-take-all Game 5 of the National League Division Series, the Dodgers took all the criticisms of the past two postseason collapses and squashed them under a barrage of fastballs and two breathtaking long balls in a near-perfect 2-0 victory over the Padres at a shamelessly joyful Dodger Stadium.
Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen removes the stress from pressure-packed moments
In an age when everything on a baseball field can be quantified and culled into scouting reports that reveal the strengths, weaknesses and tendencies of pitchers and hitters, it’s almost refreshing to come across an old-school approach like that of Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen.
“The biggest thing for me is just getting ahead of guys, honestly,” said Treinen, a 36-year-old right-hander whose late-season dominance helped fuel the team’s run to the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.
“I mean, it sounds so simple, but as much as the game changes, some things stay the same. You figure out where your success is, where you have margin for error, and then just trust it. You know, don’t think too much about it, just go execute.”
Dodgers and Mets lineups for Game 1 of the NLCS
Here’s the Dodgers’ lineup for Game 1 of the NLCS against the Mets:
And here is the Mets’ lineup:
Dodgers vanquish recent postseason frustrations in NLDS Game 5 win over Padres
Blake Treinen threw his hands in the sky. His teammates poured out of the dugout and swallowed him up near the mound.
Around them, the collective force of 53,000 fans all too accustomed to October frustration and heartbreak roared in delirious unison.
And not for the last time this fall, either.
Not after a nearly flawless performance from their ballclub on Friday.
Nine concerns the Dodgers should have about facing the Mets in the NLCS
In the postgame clubhouse following Game 5 of the National League Division Series, the expletives flowed as freely as showers of beer and champagne.
Actually, it started even before then.
What’s different about this year’s Dodgers team, Game 5 hero Kiké Hernández was asked during a postgame Fox television interview out on the field.
“The fact that we don’t give a f—,” Hernández grinned.
Dodgers vs. Mets: How to watch and betting odds for Game 1
The Dodgers continue the postseason Sunday when they face the New York Mets in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium. The game is scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m. PDT and will air on Fox and Fox Deportes. Radio broadcasts of the game will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Español) in the Los Angeles area.
Here are the betting odds for Game 1 of the NLCS:
Here’s the TV schedule for the remaining games in the best-of-seven series (all times Pacific):
Monday: Game 2 — New York Mets at Dodgers, 1:08 p.m. | Fox, FS1, FOXD
Wednesday: Game 3 — Dodgers at New York Mets, 5:08 p.m. | FS1, FOXD
Thursday: Game 4 — Dodgers at New York Mets, 5:08 p.m. | FS1, FOXD
*Friday: Game 5 — Dodgers at New York Mets, 2:08 p.m. | FS1, FOXD
* Sunday, Oct. 20: Game 6 — New York Mets at Dodgers, 5:08 p.m. | FS1, FOXD
* Monday, Oct. 21: Game 7 — New York Mets at Dodgers, 5:08 p.m. | Fox, FS1, FOXD
*—if necessary
Miguel Rojas and Alex Vesia left off Dodgers’ NLCS roster
The Dodgers will enter the NLCS without two key players on their 26-man roster.
Reliever Alex Vesia (intercostal) and shortstop Miguel Rojas (adductor) were both left off the team’s NLCS roster because of injuries.
Reliever Brent Honeywell Jr. and outfielder Kevin Kiermaier were added in their place.
Vesia got injured in Game 5 of the NLDS, after feeling cramping in his right side while warming up for the eighth inning.
Rojas has been dealing with his injury since late in the regular season. He was removed early from the Dodgers’ Game 3 loss in the NLDS, and did not appear in the series again.
Here is the Dodgers full roster:
Meantime, the Mets added Jeff McNeil to their NLCS roster. He had been out injured for New York’s wild-card and division series but now becomes one more left-handed bat for the Dodgers to account for with a bullpen that is down to just one left-handed reliever in Anthony Banda. Mets full roster below: