Mets' Kodai Senga stumbles, Dodgers pounce early in NLCS Game 1

LOS ANGELES – The New York Mets' risky play with Kodai Senga backfired mightily in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, jeopardizing their entire pitching plan for this best-of-seven series.

Senga hasn't mastered his pitches since Sunday's jump, walking four of the 10 batters he faced. Three of them scored on two RBI hits from Max Muncy and Shohei Ohtani.

Senga lasted all 1 1/3 innings, throwing only 10 of his 30 pitches for strikes.

New York had hoped Senga, who had made just two starts all year, including his Game 1 start in the NLDS, could throw at least three frames.

The Mets had selected Senga as the Game 1 starter despite Sean Manaea and Luis Severino being sidelined regularly. They wanted to keep Senga as close to his normal routine as possible.

That obviously didn't work. Senga occasionally struggled with his command early in his rookie season in 2023, but he has never looked more lost on the mound. After retiring Ohtani early in the game, he walked the next three Dodgers on 14 pitches. With two outs, Muncy hit a 2-1 cutter to center and scored two runs.

Despite that shaky first inning, the Mets stuck with Senga for a second inning. He walked Kiké Hernández on five pitches to open the inning, and Hernández scored on Ohtani's one-out groundball single to right. At this point, Carlos Mendoza put Senga out of his misery.

“He definitely didn’t have it today,” Mendoza said of the Fox broadcast. “We didn’t see that extra zipper on his fastball, and the split caused balls to go out of hand.”

Senga threw his signature forkball four times; It wasn't competitive in any of them.

Although the Mets did not commit to a rotation beyond Manaea in Game 2, they had informally established that Severino would start in Game 3, Jose Quintana in Game 4 and Senga would return for Game 5. It's worth asking whether the start was difficult enough to put Senga's Game 5 appearance in doubt. The Mets have David Peterson, who pitched behind Senga on Sunday, and Tylor Megill as potential starters who can take the ball if needed.

Senga, the Mets' star early in the year, made just one start in the regular season. He missed the first four months with a shoulder injury and suffered a serious calf strain in his first start. He returned to make a shortened start in Game 1 of the NLDS, allowing a leadoff home run but nothing else in a game the Mets won 6-2.

New York is 4-0 so far this postseason when their opponent scores first.

(Photo of Kodai Senga after the first innings: Harry How / Getty Images)