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Strange MLB history shows Dodgers’ blowout NLCS Game 1 victory might portend doom

Maybe running away and hiding in Game 1 was a bad thing, actually.
Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Dodgers Way

Championship Series - New York Mets v Los Angeles Dodgers - Game 1 / Harry How/GettyImages

After an NLDS against the San Diego Padres predicated on narratives of primetime disappearance against their rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers shook a gigantic monkey off their backs, winning an emphatic Game 4 and a nailbiting Game 5 to reverse recent trends.

That won them a berth in the NLCS, where they kept the train rolling on Sunday night against the upstart New York Mets and Kodai Senga. LA's offense hopped on New York early and often, while Jack Flaherty and the bullpen extended the Dodgers' record-tying postseason scoreless inning streak to 33. They'll have a chance to best the 1966 Orioles in the first frame of Game 2.

All good, right? Momentum rolling? Star-studded roster showing America who they really are? Nothing can stop them now? Well...

According to Sarah Langs, Sunday night's Dodgers win tied for the fourth-largest shutout victory ever in Game 1 of a postseason series. 13-0, captured by the 1984 Chicago Cubs, is the pace-setter. You may remember those star-crossed Cubs from falling short of the World Series, felled by Steve Garvey's San Diego Padres.

Same thing with the other top five blowout shutouts, actually. None of the five teams that accompany the Dodgers on this inglorious list captured the series in which the large-margin shutout occurred. What...is happening?

Dodgers' Game 1 win over New York Mets in NLCS was historic blowout, could mean series loss

After watching the Mets in the Wild Card round and Division Series, is it any wonder that they'd be on the right side of lucky history even after getting destroyed?

No matter. All these Dodgers have to do is bust another narrative myth, something they managed quite gracefully in the preceding round against San Diego.

Toeing the rubber for the Dodgers in Game 2 will be ... well, the entire bullpen, which worked to perfection in the pivoting Game 4 of the previous round. Dave Roberts must manage deftly, stemming the tide anytime the Mets threaten to figure out one piece of the puzzle. If he's not careful, he could end up on the wrong side of this bizarre gulf in league history, feeding the Mets momentum heading into their trio of home games ... and, yeah, all of a sudden, we're starting to see how this is possible.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard and Dodgers Way for 4 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast twice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for eight years. Previously, he was a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.