Heading into Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers are three scoreless outs away from setting an MLB record.
Entering Monday, the Dodgers have pitched 33 straight scoreless innings — an NL postseason record, and tied with the 1966 Baltimore Orioles for the MLB record. One more scoreless inning against the New York Mets, and Los Angeles would own the mark all by itself.
“Certainly the players that were involved in all those scoreless innings have been fantastic, and I think defensively, we’ve been very good at converting outs when we need to,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the team’s 9-0 victory in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday.
“I think the coaches have done a great job of relaying the information and making it tangible and allowing for our pitchers and catchers to do a great job of sequencing, catching the ball the right way. And the front office, just the information we get. I just think that how we’re preventing runs, it’s a complete team effort.”
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After giving up six runs in the bottom of the second to the San Diego Padres in Game 3 of the NL Divisional Series, 12 Los Angeles pitchers have combined to throw 33 shutout innings. The stingy effort allowed the Dodgers to come back from a 2-1 hole against the Padres, shutting them out in the last two games of the series before doing the same to the Mets on Sunday.
In addition to becoming one of only three teams to pitch three straight postseason shutouts, Los Angeles pitchers also combined to throw a perfect game within the streak. Beginning in Game 5 of the NLDS through the third inning of Game 1 of the NLCS, the Dodgers retired 28 straight batters. (New York shortstop Francisco Lindor broke the streak by walking in the top of the fourth.)
The streak has so far quieted two of the loudest offenses from the regular season. San Diego led all MLB teams with a .263 batting average in 2024. The Padres and Mets ranked sixth and ninth in OPS, respectively. They were also seventh and eighth in runs scored.
Los Angeles has done all of this amid injuries to a sizable chunk of its pitching staff.
All-Star starter Tyler Glasnow has been out since August. Gavin Stone, who led the team in starts in the regular season, was shut down in September and has since undergone shoulder surgery. Longtime starter Clayton Kershaw has an injured toe. Joe Kelly, a member of the 2020 World Series team, is out. And though he’s been hitting, Shohei Ohtani isn’t pitching as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
