Bats have swung, balls have flown, runners have sprinted, and still…

No one can score on the Dodgers!

The New York Mets came to town on Sunday as the hottest team in baseball, worked all their magic and unleashed all their wonders and still…

No one can score on the Dodgers!

Thirty-three innings, four games, a load of potential rallies in October’s most crucial moments and still…

Can’t anyone score on the Dodgers?

Believe it because the Mets believe it, just like the San Diego Padres were forced to believe it, even though it refutes history and defies description.

A Dodger pitching staff that was considered the team’s biggest weakness entering the postseason has erupted into its greatest strength: Jack Flaherty and two relievers combined for a third straight shutout Sunday to match a Major League postseason record with 33 consecutive scoreless innings as they swept the Mets. 9-0 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium.

The streak dates back to Game 3 of the divisional series against the Padres, includes 10 different Dodger pitchers and looks something like this:

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“You can’t really put it into words,” Flaherty said.

The Dodger pitching staff has become zero heroes, and it’s hard to imagine this best-of-seven series lasting very long if the Mets can’t do what you need to do to win games.

That’s, you know, scoring points.

“I think it’s just a collective effort,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of tying the record. “Certainly, the players involved in all those scoreless innings were fantastic. I think we have been very good defensively. … I think the coaches have done a great job of communicating the information and making it tangible, allowing our pitchers and catchers to do a great job with the order … and the front office, just the information that we’re getting. I just think the way we prevent runs is a complete team effort, a collective effort.”

The torch was initially taken over on Sunday by Flaherty, who was acquired at the trade deadline for this very reason, pitched in big games and served as ace.

He retired the first nine batters with only one ball leaving the infield. He then apparently ran into trouble at the start of the fourth when he walked Francisco Lindor, then walked Pete Alonso two outs later.

Two runners on, two outs, but no problem, as Flaherty ended the inning by getting Starling Marte to fly out to right.

There seemed to be more trouble in the fifth when Jesse Winker led off with a single to right, then Jose Iglesias singled to center as Winker moved to second and slowed halfway toward third. But center fielder Kiké Hernández upset Winker by throwing behind him to second base, causing him to inexplicably stop, and he was eventually thrown out by Gavin Lux at third base.

“Kiké’s heads-up look – body goes to third and then throws behind the runner – just a heady baseball play,” Roberts said. “And I thought that took the wind out of their sails right there. You’re looking at first and second base, nobody out. I started to get the pen working there. So getting that out and getting through it allowed Jack to keep going. That was a big play by Kiké.”

Flaherty retired the next eight batters before leaving the game after seven innings for reliever Daniel Hudson, who promptly walked Iglesias and gave up a single to Francisco Alvarez.

Problem? Against these hot Dodger arms? Again, forget it.

Lindor flied out to center and Mark Vientos struck out to end the inning.

Ben Casparius took over in the ninth and closed with another 1-2-3 inning that fittingly ended with a wild hacking strikeout by Marte.

Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius reacts after the final out in the Dodgers’ victory over the Mets in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday night.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The game ended with a roar, the stadium and its inhabitants vibrating with energy that the Dodgers initially feared they would miss.

There were fears before the game that the Dodgers were in essentially the same emotionally drained situation as they were in the 2021 postseason.

At the time, they defeated the rival San Francisco Giants in an emotional five-game series that drained the life out of them. In the ensuing NLCS, they quickly fell behind the Atlanta Braves, two games to none, before losing the series four games to two.

The Dodgers were the better team, but they admitted that the Giants needed all their mojo, that they had lost their edge and that they had nothing left for the Braves.

This is how this year’s NLCS theme was born.

Don’t let it go

“I think the first thing is that we have to keep our fire and intensity from the last series,” Max Muncy said before the match. “That’s something I’ve seen in the past where we’ve won a big series and then you move on to the next one and you almost let your guard down a little bit.”

The Dodgers stormed into the night with the history lesson learned.

Max Muncy hits a two-run single for the Dodgers in the first inning of Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

People thought it would be a crazy night as Manny Ramirez led the Dodger crowd in cheers before throwing out the first pitch. He is the first ex-Dodger to receive the honor after being suspended 50 games for using steroids in the form of a female fertility drug.

As it turns out, the madness was just beginning, creating a question that haunted the Mets as much as the Padres before them.

Will anyone ever score on the Dodgers?