Sports Al Dente

Jeff McNeil has been added to the New York Mets’ roster for the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers after recovering from a broken right wrist.

Pitcher Alex Vesia and infielder Miguel Rojas were removed from the Dodgers’ roster for the series that started on Sunday, while outfielder Kevin Kiermaier and pitcher Brent Honeywell were included after missing the NL Division Series.

McNeil broke his wrist on September 6 when he was hit by a pitch from Cincinnati’s Brandon Williamson. He returned to play this weekend for Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League, going 1 for 4 with a walk while playing second base on Friday, and 1 for 5 with an RBI single while in right field on Saturday.

“Just wanted to get through it healthy. Just didn’t want any pain. The wrist felt good,” McNeil said. “I took a really good at-bat, too, my first AB. I think it was six, seven-pitch at-bat and got a base hit. Felt really good. Kind of felt like myself. So as long as I felt good swinging the bat with no pain, I wanted to be here.”

McNeil, the 2022 major league batting champion, grew up in Santa Barbara, about two hours from Dodger Stadium, where he attended games as a Dodgers fan.

“I remember when I got called up in 2018, this is one of the first places I got to play,” he said. “It was pretty cool and special for me to play in this ballpark.”

Right-handed reliever Adam Ottavino was dropped from the Mets’ roster.

Vesia experienced cramping in his rib cage while warming up for the eighth inning during Friday’s 2-0 win over San Diego in Game 5 of the Division Series. The 28-year-old had an MRI, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was an intercostal injury.

“I think he’s still in play if we are fortunate enough to get to the World Series,” Roberts said. With Vesia absent, Anthony Banda is now the only left-handed pitcher on the Dodgers’ roster.

Rojas has been dealing with a left-thigh strain that kept him out of the last two games against the Padres. He was replaced by Kiké Hernández, who had three hits in those two games, including a solo homer in Game 5.

“He’s obviously a huge part of our ballclub,” Roberts said. “He’s playable, but I think we just, as an organization, felt that what he brings to the table as far as elite shortstop defense, we just feel right now physically he’s a little bit more compromised.”

Tommy Edman will be the starting shortstop for the entire NLCS, according to Roberts. He was acquired from St. Louis at the July 30 trade deadline.

Kiermaier was brought in from Toronto at the trade deadline, and Honeywell was claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh on July 13.

All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman was in the Dodgers’ lineup for Game 1, set to bat third. He has been struggling with a sprained right ankle that affected him in the NLDS.

“It’s better than yesterday,” Roberts said. “I’m expecting him to start and finish the game. But if we have to defensive replace, we will.” The Dodgers are carrying 13 pitchers and 13 position players.

New York has kept rookie infielder Luisangel Acuña, who is the brother of Atlanta star Ronald Acuña Jr. The Mets have 12 pitchers on their roster.

The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to win in the playoffs, even without many home runs and stolen bases from Shohei Ohtani.

The Japanese star was caught stealing for the first time in almost three months on Sunday night, ending a streak of 36 successful stolen base attempts.

The Dodgers defeated the Mets 9-0. Ohtani went 2 for 4 with a walk, scoring two runs and driving in another.

He was thrown out trying to steal second base by Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez for the Dodgers’ final out of the second inning in the NL Championship Series opener.

The last catcher to throw out Ohtani was Patrick Bailey from San Francisco, who did so on July 22, also at second base.

Ohtani’s RBI single off Kodai Senga helped give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead and knocked the Mets starter out of the game. Ohtani added another single in the fourth against David Peterson, which allowed a run to score due to a fielding error by right fielder Starling Marte.

Ohtani then scored on Freddie Freeman’s single to make it 6-0.

Ohtani has been somewhat quiet at the plate since hitting a tying three-run homer in Game 1 of the NL Division Series against San Diego.

“I think right now he’s in a good spot,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Like I said that last series, I thought he chased it a little bit, but I think tonight he got back into his hitting zone and some good things happened. And even one of his outs was close to being a homer.”

Ohtani is 6 for 8 with runners on base in the playoffs but 0 for 16 when the bases are empty.

“We’re better when we get guys on with Shohei up to bat,” Roberts said. “Obviously when guys are in scoring position there might be a little bit more focus.”

None of the Dodgers’ nine runs in Game 1 came from home runs.

“Everybody’s doing their jobs and scoring early is a key to our game,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.

Ohtani became the first 50-50 player, hitting .310, leading the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs, and stealing 59 bases in 63 attempts.

Kodai Senga sensed something was wrong just before he took the mound in the opener of the National League Championship Series.

The New York Mets starter faced only 10 batters and managed to get just four outs, struggling with his control as the Los Angeles Dodgers jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second inning on Sunday night.

“I tried to make some adjustments on the fly but obviously I wasn’t able to,” Senga said through an interpreter. “I’m just disappointed in myself that I wasn’t able to make adjustments.”

The Dodgers won the game 9-0. Game 2 is set for Monday afternoon.

The Japanese right-hander, making only his third start this year, walked four of his first eight batters, including three in a row during a 14-pitch stretch in the first inning. He threw strikes on just three of his first 16 pitches and seven out of 23 overall in that inning.

“I think a lot of factors go into it, but the biggest thing might be mechanical error,” Senga said. “Now I just need to reflect back on what happened and make adjustments so I can give a better outing next time.”

After walking Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernández with one out in the first, Max Muncy hit a two-run single up the middle, scoring Betts and a limping Freeman, who touched the plate with his left foot to protect his sprained right ankle.

Senga also had a wild pitch in the first that allowed runners to advance, along with a pitch clock violation in the second inning. He was replaced after his countryman Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI single to right, bringing in Gavin Lux, who had walked to lead off the inning.

“He didn’t have it,” rookie Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He didn’t have the life on his fastball and a lot of balls out of hand, non-competitive pitches, especially the split. You could tell that by the way they were taking those pitches—they were balls out of the hand.”

Senga gave up three runs and two hits while throwing 10 of his 30 pitches for strikes. Reed Garrett came in to relieve him.

Senga started Game 1 of the NL Division Series against Philadelphia and lasted only two innings, throwing 31 pitches.

He missed almost the first four months of the season due to a right shoulder capsule strain. Senga made his only regular-season start on July 26 but then missed the rest of the regular season because of a strained left calf and tightness in his right triceps.

Senga’s fastball averaged 93.5 mph, which is 2.3 mph lower than his season average. Mendoza said the team will evaluate how Senga responds in the next few days.

“Day by day, and then we’ll see how we get to Game 5 or whatever the case might be,” he said. “But I think it’s going to come down to how he’s going to bounce back.”

Down 3-0, the Mets got singles from Jesse Winker and Jose Iglesias to start the fifth inning. Winker hesitated between second and third, then continued to third and was thrown out when center fielder Kiké Hernández threw to second baseman Gavin Lux, who then passed the ball to third baseman Max Muncy.

“Off the bat I read first and third and then I kind of just got caught in no man’s land,” Winker said. “It was just a really bad, bad play by me. … Obviously the baserunning play kind of kicked the wind out of a potential rally. I think that’s what hurts the most.”

Hernández’s body weight shifted toward third as he swung his arm and threw to second, causing Winker to stop.

“Kiké’s heads-up kind of look—body going towards third and then throw behind the runner—just a heady baseball play,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

After spending his first seven years in the major leagues on the East Coast, Jack Flaherty returned home to join the successful Los Angeles Dodgers and made a bit of playoff history.

Flaherty teamed up for a three-hitter, and Dodgers pitchers tied the postseason record for 33 consecutive scoreless innings by defeating the New York Mets 9-0 in the opener of the NL Championship Series on Sunday night.

“I saw some family out there when I was warming up and I had gone to games here with them before, so it just kind of lets you relax a little bit,” he said.

“Felt I tried to do too much the last couple times out in some big games. Just allowed me to be myself and just go out and pitch and trust my stuff and trust the guys behind me.”

The Dodgers knocked out wild pitcher Kodai Senga in the second inning, building a six-run lead by the fourth. They matched the scoreless record set by Baltimore Orioles pitchers during the first four games of the 1966 World Series against the Dodgers.

With fans chanting “MVP! MVP!” Shohei Ohtani went 2 for 4 with a walk, scoring two runs and driving in another.

Mookie Betts contributed with a three-run double in the eighth inning, marking the largest shutout victory in Dodgers postseason history, and it was also the Mets’ most one-sided postseason shutout loss.

“Our energy all started with Jack,” Betts said. “Jack really gave it to us today.” Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is set for Monday afternoon.

Flaherty allowed two hits over seven innings, marking the Dodgers’ first scoreless postseason start of more than seven innings since Clayton Kershaw pitched eight innings in the 2020 NL Wild Card Series.

“It was just a pitching clinic,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I thought he did a great job of filling up the strike zone with his complete mix. Once we caught a lead, he did a great job of just going after those guys and attacking. For us to get seven innings in a long series was huge.”

Flaherty left the field to a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd of 53,503. The 28-year-old right-hander from nearby Burbank came back home from Detroit at the trade deadline on July 30 and has provided a steady presence in a rotation hit hard by injuries.

“He’s got an aura about him,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “He’s super competitive, super focused.”

Flaherty received a hug from manager Dave Roberts and then hugged his mother, who was sitting behind home plate. Some of his friends from their Little League days in the San Fernando Valley were also there to support him.

“This game is a lot of fun and I’ve been lucky to do it since I was a little kid,” Flaherty said. “As high pressure as they get, I just tell the guys it’s going to be fun. We’ve got to remember that sometimes.”

Flaherty retired the first nine batters he faced, which extended the Dodgers’ streak of consecutive hitters retired to 28, before walking Francisco Lindor at the start of the fourth inning. The only hits New York got off him were two singles by Jesse Winker and Jose Iglesias in the fifth. Flaherty struck out six batters.

“He was getting ahead with his fastball and then the slider, the breaking ball, the slow curve kept us off-balance, but he was getting ahead and making pitches,” rookie Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He tried to make us chase, which we did the first time through the order. Then he was just on.”

Daniel Hudson and Ben Casparius each pitched one inning. Lindor was 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout, while Pete Alonso went hitless in three at-bats with a walk and a strikeout.

The Dodgers came back from the edge of elimination against San Diego to win the NL Division Series in five games, achieving shutouts in the last two games.

They started their chase for a record 25th NL pennant by pulling Senga after just 1 1/3 innings in his third start of a season marked by injuries. The Japanese right-hander walked four of his first eight batters, including three in a row during a 14-pitch stretch in the first inning.

“He didn’t have it,” Mendoza said. “He didn’t have the life on his fastball and a lot of balls out of hand, non-competitive pitches, especially the split. You could tell that by the way they were taking those pitches—they were balls out of the hand.”

Senga loaded the bases with one out in the first inning, throwing only seven strikes out of 23 pitches. Max Muncy hit a single up the middle, bringing in Betts and a limping Freddie Freeman, who crossed the plate with his left foot to protect his sprained right ankle.

He stumbled into the arms of Betts, who helped steady the much taller Freeman. Ohtani ended Senga’s night with an RBI single in the second, and the Dodgers added three runs in the fourth against reliever David Peterson, with Tommy Edman and Freeman each getting RBI singles.