The Los Angeles Dodgers pummeled the New York Mets in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, taking a 3-1 lead in the series.
With their 10-2 win, the Dodgers are one win away from securing their 25th NL pennant in franchise history, with their most recent coming during their 2020 World Series season.
The Dodgers turn to right-hander Jack Flaherty in Game 5, making his third start of the postseason and his second of the 2024 NLCS. In his Game 1 start, the 29-year-old was a delight, tossing seven shutout innings at Dodger Stadium, tallying six strikeouts and allowing just two hits.
Flaherty has fit the bill for the Dodgers’ rotation, rebounding from his start in the Division Series round when he allowed four earned runs over 5.1 innings against the San Diego Padres. As a whole, he owns a 2.92 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP across two starts (12.1 innings), this postseason.
His Game 1 start was the best possible outcome of what to expect from Flaherty as he surrendered just a pair of singles to Jesse Winker and Jose Iglesias. He generated 11 whiffs, leaning on a heavy three-pitch mix of his four-seam fastball, knuckle curve and slider.
With the wind being a factor in Citi Field, Flaherty’s style of generating outs via fly balls will be best served by aiming to miss the big part of the barrel against Mets hitters.
He’ll be opposed by Mets left-hander David Peterson, making his second appearance of the NLCS and his fourth this postseason. His first crack at the Dodgers came in Game 1 amidst a handful of arms after Kodai Senga failed to make it out of the second inning.
Peterson was solid in the regular season, posting a 2.90 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP over 121 innings (21 starts). He boasts a 5.19 strikeouts per nine this postseason, and has found most of his success inducing chases outside the strike zone.
Peterson may run into trouble, as did fellow lefty José Quintana, whose arsenal also rests in the low 90s with his fastball varieties. The Dodgers do as good of a job as any at refraining from chasing out of the zone, forcing pitchers to attack.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts slots Freddie Freeman into the lineup after giving his veteran first baseman a day off on Thursday. Will Smith drops to eighth in the batting order as Kiké Hernández and Max Muncy are entrenched ahead of him as main contributors, perhaps taking more of a load off the backstop’s plate.
Only having to use two of his trusted relievers on Thursday, Roberts is expected to have a confident stable of arms in the bullpen behind Flaherty.
Dodgers lineup
DH: Shohei Ohtani
RF: Mookie Betts
LF: Teoscar Hernández
1B: Freddie Freeman
SS: Tommy Edman
2B: Kiké Hernández
3B: Max Muncy
C: Will Smith
CF: Andy Pages
Mets lineup
SS: Francisco Lindor
LF: Brandon Nimmo
3B: Mark Vientos
1B: Pete Alonso
DH: Jesse Winker
RF: Starling Marte
CF: Tyrone Taylor
2B: Jeff McNeil
C: Francisco Alvarez
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