MLB Playoffs: The Mets lost the first game, but hope is not lost

Game 1 of the National League Championship Series didn't go the way the Mets wanted. On paper, the series began with a 9-0 loss to the Dodgers, a loss that's hard to imagine.

But things are not as bad as they seem. Really. Here are four reasons why the Mets' loss isn't something to worry about yet.

When you lose a game, you want to lose to the best pitcher. Jack Flaherty is the best starter on the Dodgers' postseason roster according to fWAR, 3.2 in 2024 compared to Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 2.8. Since joining the Dodgers, he lost a bit of pace in the first half, but he still had a very good year and is clearly the pitcher they would consider to be their ace.

With a bullpen game today and Walker Buehler starting Game 3, the Mets have a starting pitching advantage over the next few days. They have to take advantage of that.

The Mets came in cold. The Mets came into the game with their longest rest period since they had two days off on September 25th and 26th. Their pace from September 27th to October 9th was 12 games in 14 days. While the three days off were a blessing to prepare their rotation and rest the bullpen, it was an adjustment for a team that hasn't stopped playing (and winning) in two weeks. With a game under their belt and another day on California time, the Mets should be able to look a little livelier today.

The bullpen was used, but not the high-leverage pitchers. It's not ideal to use five pitchers in a blowout loss, but the usage was actually better than it could have been. Kodai Senga was the opener and is not scheduled to return until Game 5. So using it won't disrupt your plans too much. Reed Garrett was outstanding in his first and third innings, as was Danny Young, and both had enough rest that they could probably use them today, but probably wouldn't need them since Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek and Edwin Díaz are all fresh.

David Peterson could have played longer, but he wasn't very effective, so I understand Carlos Mendoza's desire not to let the game get even more out of control, although one could argue to just ride him to the end and save the bullpen. Given the limited left-handed substitution options, I understand why Mendoza would want to keep him (somewhat) available for another game.

José Buttó didn't look great, but he got the last five outs, preventing Mendoza from having to use another pitcher.

The downside here is that the Mets wasted two of their three long men, none of whom are likely to be able to go if needed today. If Sean Manaea struggles today, it will be up to Tylor Megill and the back-end trio to break through the Dodgers' lineup.

A split was always the goal. Look, we all want the Mets to win every game possible, but as a rule of thumb, you want to win one of the first two road games in a playoff series so you can get home in a tie. Of course, it's less stressful if you can win the first game, but by this time tomorrow there's every chance that the Mets will return home in exactly the same situation as when they beat Philadelphia to a 1-1 tie against the Phillies left.

The Dodgers are a very good team, but a team with significant flaws and weaknesses. They are beatable, even with the best offensive player in the world and several other excellent batsmen in their lineup. This is especially true if, as was theorized on the broadcast last night, Freddie Freeman will face Manaea tonight. The Mets had a very bad night, there's no denying that. But this series has just begun and there is still plenty of time to come back. That starts tonight.