Kodai Senga's brutal short start sends Mets to NLCS Game 1 loss to Dodgers
Mets pitcher Kodai Senga reacts in the first inning during Game 1 of the NLCS against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
LOS ANGELES — Kodai Senga had considered this possibility, a wide-awake nightmare in the biggest game of the season. A day before, he described “a tension inside myself,” a special kind of pressure to perform that overrode any positive feelings about being on the mound. His hesitation to return in the most important month after such a long absence stemmed from a fear of coming up small when the Mets needed him most and had other options.
And then all of that became reality Sunday night in the Mets’ 9-0 loss to the Dodgers.
Called on to start Game 1 of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series, his second postseason appearance after getting into one game the entire regular season, Senga had nothing, putting his team at an immediate disadvantage from which it never recovered. “I’m just disappointed in myself,” he said through an interpreter.
The Mets hoped to get nine outs — a full three innings — from Senga, whose injury-ravaged season meant he was not ready to make a full, normal start. They got less than half of that.
Senga allowed three runs, two hits and four walks in 1 1⁄3 innings. He threw 30 pitches, only 10 of which were strikes. He mixed in a wild pitch and a pitch-clock violation. He forced the Mets to get another pitcher warmed up in the first inning and insert that pitcher in the second.
“He was off. He didn’t have it,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He didn’t have the life on his fastball and [threw] a lot of balls out of hand, non-competitive pitches, especially the split. You could tell by the way that they were taking those pitches they were balls out of the hand. Definitely off today.”
Senga reported feeling healthy and blamed mechanical issues — a fundamental piece of pitching that caused him to delay his own progress toward the majors at least once this season — for the diminished velocity and overall ineffectiveness. His fastball averaged 93.5 mph against the Dodgers; last year, it was 95.7.
“[The problem with his delivery] was something that I noticed right before going out to the game. I tried to make some adjustments on the fly, but obviously I wasn’t able to,” he said. “Obviously, I’m frustrated and disappointed. But again, I need to keep making adjustments.”
Francisco Lindor said: “He didn’t have his best stuff, but he gave everything he had. That’s all you can ask for from a guy.”
The mess raised questions about Game 5, scheduled for Friday at Citi Field. Heading into the series, the Mets intended to go back to Senga for that contest. In line with his usual forward-looking Senga-related sentiment, Mendoza said the Mets will have to “wait and see” how he recovers in the ensuing days before locking him in for that.
“I just need to reflect back on what happened today and make adjustments so I can have a better outing next time,” Senga said. “I do feel 100% healthy. I feel ready to go out next time.”
Senga was the first in a series of unfortunate events on the night for the Mets, who in addition to doing little well had nothing go their way.
Dodgers righthander Jack Flaherty tossed seven scoreless innings (two hits). David Peterson ended his unblemished postseason by giving up three runs in 2 1⁄3 innings. Jesse Winker’s baserunning blunder ran the Mets out of their best scoring opportunity.
It all began, though, with Senga, who walked Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez in the bottom of the first. Max Muncy’s two-out, two-run single started the scoring. Shohei Ohtani added an RBI single in the second.
“You could see clearly that Senga just didn’t have his ‘A’ stuff tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The split was non-competitive. He didn’t use his sweeper. And then he was just relying on the cutter, working behind hitters, walking guys . . . I just thought all night long we were really stubborn.”
Both teams knew entering the game that Senga would be limited (after throwing two innings against the Phillies the weekend before). The Dodgers, of course, didn’t have a choice in whom they faced. The Mets could have selected several others, including Sean Manaea, who will go in Game 2 on Monday, but went with Senga in part to keep him on his usual routine.
Even though Senga had been hampered by shoulder, triceps and calf injuries, the Mets liked him in these games because they view him as their best pitcher. In their eyes, they were better off getting something from the righthander than nothing.
“He’s going to go,” Muncy had said, “as long as we let him go.”
Los Angeles didn’t let him go very far at all, and after two innings, the Mets were fortunate to trail by only three runs, with the Dodgers aiding greatly in limiting the damage.
After the three straight walks in the first, Will Smith swung at the first pitch and flied out. After Senga walked Gavin Lux to open the second, Tommy Edman for some reason sacrifice bunted. And after Reed Garrett entered, Ohtani was caught stealing second after sliding off the base. That was the first time Ohtani was caught stealing since July 22. He had been successful on 36 straight attempts.
Flaherty, meanwhile, cruised. The Dodgers have thrown 33 straight scoreless innings, matching the 1966 Orioles for the longest streak in a single postseason.
The Mets didn’t have a baserunner until the fourth, when Lindor walked, and didn’t have a hit until the fifth, when Winker singled.
After Jose Iglesias subsequently singled, Winker got caught between second and third, stopping twice and getting tagged out about two steps from the bag. The Mets had consecutive hits to open the inning, which ended two pitches later.
“We never got involved in the game,” Iglesias said. “They took an early lead and offensively we could not create that momentum to get us going and try to get back in.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
