Jack Flaherty's early appearance in Game 5 is the Dodgers' nightmare waiting to unfold

As good as Jack Flaherty was during the regular season (and seemingly against all odds given his struggles last season with the Cardinals and Orioles), the postseason was a whole different beast for him. Before starting Game 5 on Wednesday, he pitched once in the NLDS, twice in the LCS and then opened the World Series.

The results were mixed. He gave up four runs in his 5 1/3 innings against the Padres in the LDS, but followed that up with a seven-inning shutout attempt in his next start against the Mets. Things went downhill again in Game 5 of the LCS – and even worse this time – when he gave up eight runs to the Mets in three innings.

His first start in the Fall Classics caused things to shake out. Only two runs were given up over 5 1/3 innings to give the Dodgers the immediate series lead.

But at this point the wavering just fluctuates had go in the other direction. Despite losing Game 4 to the Yankees, the Dodgers still had a chance to win the whole thing on Wednesday, provided Flaherty caught them on the right foot.

He didn't. After his first appearance against Gleyber Torres, he went to Juan Soto. Aaron Judge, who has looked like he has no problem for most of the postseason, came up. He saw a first pitch, a 94 MPH center-cut fastball from Flaherty, and there was no doubt where it would land after Judge hit it.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm jumped on 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 opponent Jazz Chisholm got behind Judge and hit another 94 MPH fastball out of the yard. All Flaherty had was one out, and the Dodgers were already down by three. After an RBI single by Alex Verdugo in the second inning, he gave up another run and Dave Roberts immediately retired him. The bullpen starts early in this game – exactly what the Dodgers didn't want.

The fear after the Game 4 loss was that the Dodgers gave the Yankees too much breathing room. Maybe the Dodgers should have decided it was time to put it all behind them instead of swallowing the game and going quietly into the night. They could have gone all out, but instead they suffered a loss, allowing them to come back in full force in Game 5.

There's still time in this game, but for anyone panicking out there, LA still gets two home games after that if Wednesday doesn't go according to plan.