close
close

Jack Flaherty gets the Dodgers going in Game 5 with a brutal start against the Yankees

Jack Flaherty gets the Dodgers going in Game 5 with a brutal start against the Yankees

When Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts rested his leveraged relievers in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, the decision paid off. Crucially, by putting the game away, the Dodgers ended the series with fresh arms in Game 6.

Having a three game lead in the World Series against him New York Yankees it gave Roberts the luxury of using the same strategy and he used it again. The Dodgers swept Game 4, and New York cruised to an 11-4 victory.

The hope was that the fresh arms would give Los Angeles a better opportunity to bury the Yankees and close out the championship in Game 5. To do so, the Dodgers hoped to rely heavily on pitcher Jack Flaherty in the early stanzas of the the game. .

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray The Baseball Insiders Podcastsubscribe to Moonshotour weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop from now until the MLB offseason.

Instead, Flaherty fell flat. In the bottom of the first inning, Yankees star Aaron Judge broke out of a slump with a two-run blast to right-center field. Not long after, Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit his own home run to right-center field to give New York an early 3-0 lead.

The barrage continued in the bottom of the second inning when Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo hit a base hit to bring home shortstop Anthony Volpe. At that point, Roberts had seen enough. All four hits were right over the plate with two four-seam fastballs, a finger curve and a slider, on Baseball Scientist.

Flaherty became the first starter in World Series history to give up more than four runs and more than two home runs while lasting less than 2.0 innings. on OptaSTATS. He also became the first starter since Jake Peavy of the San Francisco Giants in 2014 to collect no more than four outs in a World Series game.


As Flaherty walked off the mound after just four outs, it became apparent that the Dodgers bullpen was in for a long night. After all, there were still 7 2/3 innings to go.

The last nine teams to fall into a three-game deficit have all been swept in four games, and only four teams in MLB history have been able to force a Game 5. Roberts made sure the Yankees were able to join that club. Now, Flaherty has the Yankees ready to make history: No team has forced a Game 6 after falling to a three-game deficit in the World Series.

Both Roberts and Flaherty will be hoping that the Dodgers’ bullpen can save them from the scrutiny that awaits them if New York can pull off a second straight win. Fortunately for the Dodgers, there is a lot of play left, the Yankees defense has been atrocious, and Los Angeles still has Freddie Freeman on their side.

The first baseman continued his historic World Series performance with a base hit to score Tommy Edman and Will Smith. Freeman now has 12 RBIs in the series, tying Bobby Richardson for the most in a single World Series.

Yankees fan doesn’t mind losing money on the Freddie Freeman HR record ball. darkness. Next. Yankees fan doesn’t mind losing money on the Freddie Freeman HR record ball