CNN
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The Los Angeles Dodgers started the National League Championship Series (NLCS) in impressive fashion on Sunday, defeating the New York Mets 9-0 at Dodger Stadium to tie an MLB playoff record.

The shutout victory means the Dodgers have now thrown 33 consecutive scoreless innings, tying the record set by the Baltimore Orioles during Games 1-4 of the 1966 World Series, in which they swept the Dodgers with the future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer in the rotation. .

Jack Flaherty was the dominant force on the mound this time, pitching seven innings and giving up just two hits and two walks while striking out six. He became the first Dodgers pitcher since Clayton Kershaw in 2020 to record a scoreless playoff start of seven or more innings.

“It just picks up where the last guy left off,” Flaherty said afterward, according to MLB.com. “You know the guy who comes in after you has your back. And so this whole team has felt like everyone is just feeding off each other right now.”

By the time the 28-year-old had allowed a man on base, it was the fourth inning and the Dodgers were up 3-0; Francisco Lindor’s walk marked the first time in 29 at-bats that a batter had the upper hand over an LA pitcher.

Only three other franchises have retired 27 or more consecutive batters in a single postseason: the 1926 St Louis Cardinals, the 1939 Cincinnati Reds and the New York Yankees in 1927, 1956 and 2004.

“They just went out there and dominated,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said of the pitching staff, according to MLB.com. “I support the pitches there, but it’s all those guys who execute what we decide. We’re just trying to keep it going.”

It was a different story for Mets’ Kodai Senga, who was retired early in the second inning after facing just 10 batters and giving up three runs. Max Muncy’s two-run single kicked off the first, and Shohei Ohtani’s RBI single in the second was the final blow for his fellow countryman, who made just his third start of the year after an injury-plagued regular season.

The rest of the Dodgers’ runs were split evenly between the fourth and eighth innings. The first saw RBI singles from Tommy Edman and Freddie Freeman, either side of an RBI double from Ohtani.

Mookie Betts’ double in the eighth cleared the bases and completed the 9-0 blowout, giving the Dodgers the fourth-largest shutout victory in playoff history.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven NLCS takes place Monday at Dodger Stadium.