Jack Flaherty’s early blowup in Game 5 is the Dodgers’ nightmare waiting to unfold

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

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

His first Fall Classic start kept the momentum going. Only two runs were given up over 5 1/3 innings to give the Dodgers the immediate lead in the series.

But at this point it’s just teetering had to go the other way. Although they dropped Game 4 to the Yankees, the Dodgers still had a chance to win it all Wednesday, provided Flaherty gets them off on the right foot.

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

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

To add insult to injury, Dodgers nemesis Jazz Chisholm came up behind Judge to hit another middle-of-the-middle, 94 MPH fastball out of the yard. All Flaherty had was one out and the Dodgers were already down three. He gave up another run on an Alex Verdugo RBI single in the second inning, and Dave Roberts immediately pulled him. The bullpen starts early in this one – exactly what the Dodgers didn’t want.

The fear of Game 4’s loss was that the Dodgers gave the Yankees too much room to breathe. Maybe instead of eating that game and going quietly into the night, the Dodgers should have decided it was time to put it all away. They could have gone for the kill, but instead suffered a blowout that allowed them to come back full force in Game 5.

There’s still time in this one, but for anyone panicking out there, LA still gets two home games after this if Wednesday doesn’t go their way.