The Los Angeles Dodgers cruised to a 9-0 win over the New York Mets in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series behind Jack Flaherty’s dominant start.
The right-hander allowed just two hits and collected six strikeouts against two walks in seven scoreless innings. The performance helped the Dodgers become the third team to toss 30 consecutive scoreless innings in a single MLB postseason.
Flaherty, who grew up a Dodgers fan, said after the victory that he drew inspiration from watching Clayton Kershaw pitch in the playoffs over the last decade.
“The answer is there’s only one — it’s Kersh,” Flaherty answered when asked who he recalled having Dodgers postseason memories of.
“Regardless of what people want to say about what his postseason numbers are, he’s had a hell of a lot of good ones. And he’s been an absolute stud for the entirety of his career.
“Getting a hug from him afterwards and him letting me know it was a really good job is special and things that you can’t make up. That dude took the ball every time he got the opportunity to in the playoffs. Had some really damn good outings outside of a pitch here and there. That’s the guy you look at.
“He takes the ball and wants the ball every time out. You watch him and you get to be around him and you watch the way he works and the way he goes about his business, and is even just more special.
“But I think back on all those starts he’s had where he was phenomenal taking the ball on three days’ rest and going out and still going six, seven innings no matter what. That guy’s second to none.”
Kershaw has made 39 postseason appearances (32 starts) in his illustrious career, pitching to a 13-13 record with a 4.49 ERA and 1.11 WHIP across 194.1 innings.
Much of Kershaw’s playoff struggles can be traced to being part of a pitching staff that required multiple instances of needing to appear out of the bullpen or start on short rest.
As Flaherty noted, there have been dominant postseason performances by Kershaw that seemingly get overlooked. Perhaps in part due to lofty expectations placed on his shoulders as one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history.
Clayton Kershaw returning to pitch in 2025
During an interview with Fox Sports before Game 2, Kershaw announced his plan to continue pitching in the 2025 season after missing the playoffs to finish this year.
“Mentally, I feel great. I had shoulder surgery last offseason, but my shoulder and elbow, everything, my arm feels great,” Kershaw told David Ortiz.
“Obviously I had some tough luck with my foot this year, but I want to make use of this surgery. I don’t want to have surgery and then shut it down. So I’m going to come back next year, give it a go, and see how it goes.”
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