Jack Flaherty latest headliner in Dodgers' record playoff scoreless streak

LOS ANGELES The latest showing of baseballs most ridiculous scoreless streak needed a headliner.

No team in postseason history has strung together more consecutive scoreless innings than these Los Angeles Dodgers , who have entrusted a series comeback and a run at the World Series to what remains of a wounded batch of arms.

Their rotation depth has been whittled down.

Pitching plans have veered toward the unconventional.

Advertisement Enter Jack Flaherty , the best starting pitcher moved at the summers trade deadline but someone that few envisioned starting Game 1 of a postseason series, much less the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets .

The zeroes continued regardless after Flaherty delivered seven scoreless innings Sunday night in his home ballpark in front of a sold-out October crowd.

He didnt allow a base runner until the fourth inning.

He didnt allow a hit until the fifth.

After feeling like he was trying to do too much in his first start this postseason seven days ago, Flaherty was dominant.

For the first time in three postseasons, the Dodgers had a starter pitch into the seventh inning.

The Burbank native exited to an ovation.

You cant really put it all into words, Flaherty said.

Postseason history became an addendum to a 9-0 thumping of the Mets, as the Dodgers and their pitching have taken the early grasp.

It was Flaherty whose fastball looked crisp in retiring the side in a 14-pitch first inning.

His fastball, the subject of consternation over the final weeks of the regular season, touched 95 mph in the first inning.

After living too close to the edges a week ago against the San Diego Padres , allowing four runs over 5 1/3 innings, the right-hander went on the attack, flipping curveballs to go ahead in the count while having enough behind his fastball to generate swing-and-miss.

The @Dodgers pitchers are on an unbelievable run pic.twitter.com/6UCLcGQzF1 MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2024 It was just a pitching clinic, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

This was the Flaherty the Dodgers were hoping to acquire this summer.

Sunday, he delivered what was probably his best performance in his months as a Dodger.

Hes kind of old school a little bit, Gavin Lux said.

He plays with the shapes and speeds of his sliders and curveballs.

He mixes really well, locates really well, but he gets on on the mound, he competes his ass off.

Advertisement His early proficiency afforded the Dodgers something theyve had just four times in the last three postseasons: a lead after the first inning.

They jumped on Kodai Senga , whose command was out of sorts and threw only six more strikes (10) than he recorded outs (four).

From there, they rolled.

I think our energy all started with Jack, Mookie Betts said.

You could tell Jack had it going from the first inning, Freddie Freeman said.

We needed that.

Months later, the frenzied pace of Julys trade deadline still brought hazy memories.

The Dodgers pursuits on the starting pitching market varied, yet little seemed to materialize.

The Detroit Tigers ultimately would not move likely Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal .

The Chicago White Sox somewhat perplexingly held on to Garrett Crochet .

The Dodgers had remained engaged on Flaherty, who had enjoyed a summer of reinvention after years marred by inconsistencies and injury.

The New York Yankees had been in active pursuit of Flaherty as well before, as The Athletic reported, some lingering concerns about Flahertys back halted the trade.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman thought talks had stalled before Detroit, with 40 minutes left until the 3 p.m.

PT deadline, reengaged.

Things happened pretty quickly from there, Friedman recalled Sunday afternoon.

Flaherty experienced that afternoon in a quiet clubhouse, waiting for a move that felt inevitable with the lone question being where.

Ultimately, he returned to the Southland, watching from afar as the Tigers stormed to an unlikely postseason berth with one of the return pieces, shortstop Trey Sweeney , emerging as a starter.

To be here in this situation that were in is special, so to be here in L.A.

and to come home, theres really no words for it, Flaherty said.

The trade deadline was just kind of just a big waiting game to see kind of how everything happens.

Advertisement Flaherty grew up going to Dodgers games.

Many nights as a child, he and his mother, Eileen, would call the reserve section home.

The precocious right-hander was a year removed from being selected in the first round of the draft by the St.

Louis Cardinals when he and his younger brother, Grady, returned to those seats to watch the last matchup between the Dodgers and Mets.

He watched Noah Syndergaard with awe.

He joined the thousands who witnessed Chase Utley crunch into infielder Ruben Tejada.

Those memories hung on Flaherty on the eve of this years NLCS.

Twenty-four hours later, he etched his place by contributing to Dodgers postseason history.

A beleaguered staff had buckled down over the final games of a hard-fought series against the San Diego Padres, combining to twirl 24 consecutive scoreless innings to cap off the series comeback and spark a party.

Less than 48 hours later, Flaherty prolonged the clubs stretch of dominance.

By the time Flaherty left the mound after seven scoreless innings, the streak was at 31 straight zeros, the longest such stretch in National League postseason history (besting the 1905 New York Giants) and longest for any postseason team since the 1974 Oakland Athletics .

Daniel Hudson and Ben Casparius each added scoreless frames, matching the 1966 Baltimore Orioles for the longest such streak in postseason history.

I wasnt aware of the record until about five minutes ago, Casparius said.

We just want to keep it rolling, assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness said, mindful not to jinx the still-active stretch.

Flahertys Game 1 performance sets up the Dodgers to make that happen.

In the hours leading up to the start of the series, the Dodgers narrowed their pitching plan for Monday afternoons Game 2 to a set of choices.

If they managed to get through Sundays Game 1 without using many of their highest-leverage relievers, they would be able to run a bullpen game of sorts.

A day off between Games 2 and 3 (as well as the prospect of potentially three consecutive games in New York) allows a perfect opportunity to deploy their best relief arms without as much immediate cost.

If not, then they would use Walker Buehler rather than save him for Game 3 at Citi Field.

Advertisement The Dodgers will run a bullpen game Monday.

We came out of it with a lot of guys that are rested and raring to go, Roberts said.

I felt good about that.

Jack being able to do that opens up a lot of things and also saves some looks from some of our guys in the pen from some of their guys.

Thats just how things have rolled for the Dodgers pitching lately.

(Photo: Sean M.

Haffey / Getty Images).

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