Dodgers' Game 5 implosion helps Mets set franchise record while handing NY momentum

Los Angeles Dodgers fans were treated to a playoff game that they would probably prefer to forget on Friday during Game 5 of the NLCS. After a rocky start, Jack Flaherty then imploded, and LA was never able to fully recover, as the Mets emerged victorious and forced a Game 6.

The Dodgers' problems started early on as Jack Flaherty was battling both some real command issues, as well as a troubling dip in his fastball velocity through the game's first few innings.

By the time LA was able to get their bullpen warming in the third, the wheels had come completely off, and Flaherty exited the game having given up eight runs.

The Mets just weren't missing anything on Friday evening. Brent Honeywell came into the game and, in addition to having almost no idea where his pitches were going (as some poor unsuspecting Mets players found out the painful way), he gave up two runs in the fourth and allowed New York to set a unique franchise record in a hurry.

Jack Flaherty's meltdown cost the Dodgers dearly in Game 5 of the NLCS

The Dodgers' offense at least tried to make things interesting, despite the deficit. After being down 10-2 by the end of the fourth inning, a three-run bomb from Andy Pages (his second homer of the game) in the fifth cut the deficit to five runs, and a solo shot from Mookie Betts made it a four-run game before the Mets immediately got the run back on a sac fly.

Despite Pages' and the rest of the lineup's best efforts, the damage was done and was too great to overcome, and now LA will have to wait for another chance to close this series out. After an off day on Saturday, Game 6 will happen in LA at 5:08 PM PST/8:08 PM EST.

Based on what we saw in Game 5, New York has a lot of reason to be confident the rest of the series. The Dodgers have to just hope that they can win one of the next two and punch their ticket to the Fall Classic and do all of this again.

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