The Los Angeles Dodgers began the National League Championship Series with a win against the New York Mets that came in convincing fashion.
They entered Game 1 riding an emotional high after knocking off the San Diego Padres in an intense NL Division Series matchup. To do so, the Dodgers overcame a 2-1 series deficit behind back-to-back wins while facing elimination.
It was reminiscent of the 2021 NLDS, when the Dodgers eliminated the San Francisco Giants in five games in order to advance. In the NLCS, they ended up falling in six games to the eventual World Series champion Atlanta Braves.
It was a heartbreaking Game 6 loss, as the Dodgers had plenty of chances to force a Game 7 but went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The Dodgers, who won 106 games, maybe didn’t play with the same intensity against a Braves team that had 88 wins and were without Ronald Acuña Jr. There also was the aspect of potentially exhausting themselves against the Giants.
For the players in the Dodgers clubhouse who were a part of that team, what happened in 2021 is something they are aware of and are determined to not repeat this season.
“That was definitely what I was referring to where, I’ve talked about in the past where you’ve had the big series. I obviously wasn’t participating in that one, but I was there in the dugout watching. And that was something that I saw, that you beat the division rival, you’re really, really high up and you almost let your guard down. And it gets taken out from underneath your feet,” Max Muncy recalled.
“That’s something we’re going to reiterate today and this whole series. We have to make sure we maintain our intensity and maintain our focus. I think that goes back to the group we have in this clubhouse and the fire that we have and just the chemistry we’ve had.
“It’s almost immediately everyone was saying the same message, that we’ve got to make sure we stay just as fired up, just as focused and just as prepared for this series.”
There was talk of a different look in the eyes of this year’s Dodgers team heading into the NLDS against the Padres, and they certainly proved that in that series.
But with that came the memories of 2021 and the Dodgers ultimately falling short.
“That’s a fair question. I think with all things you learn from past experiences. I think the takeaway is you can’t let down your guard or get off the gas,” manager Dave Roberts said.
“It was an exhausting series, going back to ’21 to kind of beat the Giants and then to get on and play against the Braves. So I don’t really know where our headspace was at that time. But I do know that we’ve got to push on and keep the momentum, play with that same urgency and not get caught up in it’s a seven-game series.
“That just can’t happen. So I think that’s one thing that we’re very mindful of.”
Dodgers NLCS: Dave Roberts’ warning
Heading into the NLCS against the No. 6 seed Mets, Roberts cautioned his team not to overlook an opponent they hadn’t seen since early in the regular season.
“They’re a completely different team than we saw. They’re playing considerably better,” Roberts said. “(Francisco) Lindor is back to being Frankie. They’ve just got a lot of confidence. So we’ve got to play good baseball.”
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