Jack Flaherty puts Dodgers in early Game 5 hole with brutal start vs. Yankees

When Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts rested his high-leverage relievers in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, the decision paying off. Essentially throwing the game away, the Dodgers clinched the series with new weapons in Game 6.

With a three-game lead in the World Series against the New York Yankees gave Roberts the luxury of using the same strategy, and he used it again. The Dodgers punted Game 4 and New York took advantage, taking an 11-4 victory.

The hope was that the new weapons would give Los Angeles a better chance to bury the Yankees and seal the championship in Game 5. To do this, the Dodgers hoped to rely heavily on pitcher Jack Flaherty in the opening lines of the game. .

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Instead, Flaherty fell flat. In the bottom of the first inning, Yankees star Aaron Judge broke out of the slump with a two-run blast to right center field. Not long after, Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. registered. his own home run to right center field to give New York an early 3-0 lead.

The barrage continued in the bottom of the second inning when Yankees fielder Alex Verdugo hit a line drive single to bring home shortstop Anthony Volpe. At that point, Roberts had seen enough. All four hits were right over the plate, with two four-seam fastballs, one knuckle curve and one slider. per baseball savant.

Flaherty became the first starter in World Series history to give up four-plus runs and two-plus home runs while lasting fewer than 2.0 innings. according to OptaSTATS. He also became the first starter since Jake Peavy of the San Francisco Giants in 2014 to not collect more than four outs in a World Series game.

When Flaherty walked off the mound after just four outs, it became clear that the Dodgers’ bullpen was in for a long night. After all, there were still 7 2/3 innings to fill.

The last nine teams to fall into a three-game deficit have all been swept in four games, and only four teams in MLB history have managed to force a Game 5. Roberts arranged for the Yankees to join that club. Now Flaherty has enabled the Yankees to make history: No team has forced a Game 6 after trailing by three games in the World Series.

Both Roberts and Flaherty are hoping the Dodgers bullpen can save them from the criticism that awaits if New York manages to earn a second straight win. Fortunately for the Dodgers, there is still plenty of game left, the Yankees defense is atrocious, and Los Angeles still has Freddie Freeman on their side.

The first baseman continued his historic World Series performance with a single, scoring Tommy Edman and Will Smith. Freeman now has 12 RBI in the series, tying Bobby Richardson for the most in a single World Series.