As good as Jack Flaherty was during the regular season (and seemingly against all odds considering his struggles last season with the Cardinals and Orioles), the postseason was a different beast for him. Prior to his Game 5 start on Wednesday, he pitched once in the NLDS, twice in the LCS, and then opened the World Series.

The results were a mixed bag. He gave up four runs in his 5 1/3 innings against the Padres in the LDS, but followed that up with a seven-inning shutout effort in his next start against the Mets. Things took a turn for the worse again – and this time even worse – in Game 5 of the LCS, when he gave up eight runs against the Mets in three innings.

His first Fall Classic start kept the see-saw moving. Only two runs were allowed over 5 1/3 innings, immediately giving the Dodgers the series lead.

But at this point it’s just faltering had go the other way. Even though they dropped Game 4 to the Yankees, the Dodgers still had a chance to win the whole thing on Wednesday, provided Flaherty got them off the field the right way.

He didn’t. After getting his first out off Gleyber Torres, he walked Juan Soto. Aaron Judge, who has made himself look like an easy player for most of the postseason, stepped up. He saw a first pitch, a center-cut fastball at 94 MPH from Flaherty, and there was no doubt where it would end up after Judge hit it.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm jump on Jack Flaherty early to give Yankees a three-run lead over Dodgers in the first inning of Game 5

To make matters worse, Dodgers foe Jazz Chisholm got behind Judge and hit another center-center, 94 MPH fastball from the yard. All Flaherty had was one out, and the Dodgers were already down by three. He gave up another run on an RBI single by Alex Verdugo in the second inning and Dave Roberts immediately pulled him. The bullpen starts doing this early – exactly what the Dodgers didn’t want.

The fear after the Game 4 loss was that the Dodgers gave the Yankees too much room to breathe. Maybe instead of eating that game and settling into the night, the Dodgers should have decided it was time to put it all aside. They could have gone for the kill, but instead they suffered a defeat so they could come back with full force in Game 5.

There’s still time, but for anyone panicking, LA will get two more home games after this if Wednesday doesn’t go their way.