Why Jack Flaherty’s gem is more than just a Game 1 win for the Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — Before Jack Flaherty took the mound Sunday night, he noticed his mom taking her seat behind home plate. In the crowd, a group of his lifelong friends from Sherman Oaks Little League offered their support. 

Entering his second playoff start with his childhood team, he felt at ease. 

Eleven years after the Harvard-Westlake junior fired seven scoreless innings in the Southern Section Division I championship game at Dodger Stadium, the local product was back on the same mound, doing the same thing, only with considerably different stakes and circumstances. 

Instead of delivering his high school team a championship, Flaherty was orchestrating the most consequential victory of his eight-year big-league career with seven shutout frames in the Dodgers' 9-0 victory to begin the National League Championship Series against the Mets. 

"I'm sure every single one of us has done it and put ourselves in the scenario," Flaherty said. "It's the same thing, same game. You've just got to look at it as fun and try not to make things bigger than they are, not let your imagination get in the way."

Flaherty's Game 1 gem put the Dodgers in the driver's seat of the series, ensuring there wouldn't be an emotional letdown coming off a spirited series against the rival Padres in which the Dodgers staved off elimination twice. It also etched his team in the record books. 

Sunday's victory ran the Dodger pitching staff's consecutive scoreless innings streak to 33, tied with the 1966 Orioles for the most in MLB postseason history. 

Just as important, it allowed manager Dave Roberts to save his arms. 

Given their lack of starting pitching options, the Dodgers will need to use bullpen games at some point. In a seven-game series, that can be