MLB Insider: 3 takeaways from Dodgers-Mets clubhouses after Games 1 and 2

Just when it looked like the Dodgers would take control of the National League Championship Series, the New York Mets did what they do best: fought back.

In Game 2, the Mets got out to a commanding 5-0 lead in the second inning. The offense, silenced the night before by a dominant Dodgers pitching staff, awakened. The pitching staff, led by Sean Manaea, quieted a star-studded Dodgers lineup. 

After a 7-3 victory on Monday, the NLCS is now tied 1-1. The series is now headed to New York where the Dodgers and Mets will play three critical games in what multiple Dodgers players expect to be a “hectic” environment. 

Here are three takeaways from the first two games of the series.

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The questions surrounding Dodgers’ pitching

After Game 1, in which Jack Flaherty threw seven shutout innings, the Dodgers’ pitching staff — especially their bullpen — appeared to be in great shape. After Monday, the questions become more pressing.

Walker Buehler, the Dodgers’ Game 3 starter, has struggled coming off his second Tommy John surgery. In 75.1 innings, he’s posted a 5.38 ERA and a 64/28 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Dodgers are hopeful that Buehler has begun turning the corner — he’s allowed only one run in two of his last four outings – and thrown at least five innings in each of those appearances.

“This is a guy that’s coming off surgery,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So the year after a surgery, there’s an adjustment period, kind of trying to get the feel and really get your feet back and understanding who you are as a pitcher coming out of surgery.

“I talked to Walker yesterday and he’s obviously never lacked confidence, but he’s in a good place physically. He certainly lives for the big moments. What better way to change the bad taste that you had in a regular season for him to have a dominant postseason. He’s on a heater right now.”

In addition to Game 3, Buehler would be lined up to pitch a potential Game 7. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty will be available as well while another bullpen game would become a very real possibility should the series make its way back to Los Angeles. And while the Dodgers have had plenty of success with bullpen games, Monday’s game underscored just how difficult it can be.

“It absolutely does,’ Roberts said. “It all is great when it works well and guys are throwing up zeros, but you’re still facing really good ball clubs. There is a margin that you have to guard against and kind of really appreciate the cost of the next games, and not forgetting that this isn’t a winner-take-all game. It’s not a three game series. Those are the things I have to be mindful of.”

Mets’ resilience on display once again

We saw it against the Atlanta Braves. We saw it against the Milwaukee Brewers. We saw it against the Philadelphia Phillies. And we saw it once again in Game 2 against the Dodgers.

The Mets are an incredibly resilient team.

While other games featured electrifying comebacks, the Mets bounced back after a brutal 9-0 defeat on Sunday. Francisco Lindor opened the game with a leadoff home run that ended the Dodgers’ pitching staff's historic stretch of 33 consecutive scoreless playoff innings. Mark Vientos hit a grand slam in the second inning to give the Mets a 5-0 victory that the Dodgers would not overcome.

“You expect it to be a long series,” Mookie Betts said. “They’re good. They’re not a bad baseball team. They didn’t make it here by luck. It’s going to be a dogfight.”

Said Will Smith: “It’s going to be a fight. We knew it was going to be.”

Added Betts: “There’s no other words other than that we lost. It sucks, but you can’t expect us — I don’t think anybody is expecting anyone to roll over. We’re going to New York. We know it’s going to be hectic there. Obviously, that’s going to give them confidence. We have to come out ready to play.”

Dodgers praise Sean Manaea

Entering Monday, Sean Manaea had struggled mightily against the Dodgers throughout his career. In 11 games, the left-hander had posted a 7.09 ERA in 47 innings, which is his second-worst ERA against any opponent (minimum seven starts).

But this Manaea is far different from the Manaea that the Dodgers have previously seen. Since coming to New York, he has drastically altered his arm angle to the point that Roberts and others on the Dodgers compared Manaea to Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale. And on Monday, Manaea threw the best outing of his career against these Dodgers, throwing five innings and allowing only two hits (two runs) while striking out seven.

“He’s quite different,” Kiké Hernandez said. “The ball is coming out way wider and way lower than it was coming out before. Pretty similar to Sale. I would say even a little more extreme. He’s got a really good fastball, especially from the angle. When it’s down, it sinks a lot. When it’s up, it’s kind of upshooting. When it’s in, sometimes it comes back. Sometimes it just stays straight. … He pitched a great game.”