Jack Flaherty and the Dodgers set the tone for the NLCS with a 9-0 victory over the Mets in Game 1

LOS ANGELES — Nine years ago, when the Dodgers faced the Mets in the 2015 NLDS, there was a lifelong Dodgers fan in the crowd at Dodger Stadium who didn’t know it yet but would one day play baseball for his hometown in October Team.

That fan was Jack Flaherty.

The biggest question for the Dodgers entering the NLCS — especially early in this postseason — was: Can their starters hit well enough to give them a chance? And for Game 1 of the NLCS, Flaherty, who attended Harvard Westlake High School, just 30 minutes from Dodger Stadium, got the ball for LA in hopes of taking on Yoshinobu Yamamoto and keeping the NLDS momentum going.

“You can’t really put it into words, but the most important thing was to come here and set the tone,” Flaherty said afterwards. “But being here and having some relatives in the stands and seeing some of them beforehand, it kind of makes you relax a little bit.”

Flaherty not only set the tone on Sunday, but he also delivered his best start of the season in the Dodgers’ 9-0 victory over the Mets, pitching a two-hit shutout to give LA a 1-0 lead.

“This is certainly a childhood dream for him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “You test a guy and you just feel like he can handle that market, handle pitching in a playoff game, start a playoff game, so that wasn’t a surprise to us. … The moment just won’t be too big for Jack.”

The Dodgers right-hander came out of Game 1 of the NLCS feeling different than his start in NLDS Game 2 against the Padres. Against San Diego, Flaherty mastered his offense, but against the Mets he got into a rhythm early and retired the first nine batters he faced.

On a night when he had very little traffic on the bases, the inning that could have changed the rhythm of the game came in the fourth inning. New York finally got going at the top of the order when Francisco Lindor led off with a walk. Flaherty found a way to get out of trouble by striking out the next batter, Mark Vientos.

Two batters later, Pete Alonso walked to add pressure to the inning, but Flaherty was unfazed, as he was the rest of the night. He induced a slow flyout from Starling Marte to end the threat.

“I felt like I was figuring some things out the last couple days and just working through it,” Flaherty said after the game. “I felt like my performance against San Diego was okay. But even in that game I was able to get some outs, put a few zeros together and then we just had to clean up a few things. … The warm-up before the game felt good, felt good yesterday too. It’s just a matter of implementation.”

The Dodgers’ most important acquisition at the trade deadline didn’t let the Mets take a hit until the fifth inning, when he allowed singles to Jesse Winker and Jose Iglesias early in the frame. But thanks to some terrible baserunning from Winker, New York squandered its golden chance to go two-on-no-out without scoring.

Flaherty then retired the last eight batters he faced and left the game after seven shutout innings, having allowed just two hits, walking two batters and striking out six. The Dodgers, who struggled with length from the start, saw their longest outing with a starting pitcher since Flaherty hit 7 1/3 on Sept. 8.

“He gave us seven shutouts [innings]Set the tone,” catcher Will Smith said afterwards. “We needed that. He’s really improved.”

“He came forward with his fastball, and the slider and slow curveball kept us off balance,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He tried to force us to pursue him, which is what we did the first time by order. It was just his turn.”

The Dodgers’ pitching seemed to be their Achilles’ heel early in the postseason, but it has been their greatest strength since Game 3 of the NLDS. The Dodgers tied the major league postseason record by pitching 33 consecutive scoreless innings from Game 3 against the Padres to Game 1 against the Mets, tying the 1966 Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

And they did it without names like Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone or Clayton Kershaw conquering baseball.

After Yamamoto’s start in Game 5 of the NLDS limited the Dodgers’ triumph against the Padres, Flaherty’s dominance in Game 1 sent a clear message for LA in this NLCS.

“I think it is the perfect time for us to bring in Jack as he is an experienced player,” said Roberts. “He went through a lot – ups, downs – and found his way back.”

Not to be forgotten about the Dodgers’ dominant night on the mound: They also performed tremendously on offense. LA’s lineup exploded for nine runs on nine hits – without the help of the long ball. That included Mookie Betts’ three-run double and Shohei Ohtani going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.

But the Dodgers’ offense was the known strength in October. If this team continues to deliver strong performances from its starters and bullpen, LA could turn into an unstoppable force at the best time.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” Flaherty said after the game. “It’s Game 1. It’s a really good team there. We’ll enjoy tonight, but we have a quick turnaround tomorrow. I’m going to enjoy watching these guys go out and compete and watching everyone around us come out of the bullpen or whoever takes the ball and watching this lineup go to work.”