LOS ANGELES — The New York Mets’ risky play with Kodai Senga backfired tremendously in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, and it’s imperiled their entire pitching plan for this best-of-seven series.
Senga had no command of his pitches from the jump Sunday, walking four of the 10 batters he faced. Three of them came around to score on a pair of RBI hits from Max Muncy and Shohei Ohtani.
Senga lasted all of 1 1/3 innings, throwing just 10 of his 30 pitches for strikes.
New York had hoped Senga, who had made just two starts all year including his Game 1 start in the NLDS, could pitch at least three frames.
The Mets had tabbed Senga their Game 1 starter even with Sean Manaea and Luis Severino available on regular rest. They wanted to keep Senga as close to his normal routine as possible.
That clearly didn’t work. Senga had occasionally struggled with his command early in his rookie season in 2023, but he’d never looked this lost on the mound. After retiring Ohtani to start the game, he walked the next three Dodgers on 14 pitches. With two outs, Muncy lined a 2-1 cutter into center to score two runs.
Despite that shaky first inning, the Mets stuck with Senga for a second inning. He walked Kiké Hernández on five pitches to lead off that inning, and Hernández scored on Ohtani’s one-out ground-ball single to right. Carlos Mendoza put Senga out of his misery at that point.
“He definitely didn’t have it today,” Mendoza said via the Fox broadcast. “We didn’t see that extra zip on his fastball, and the split were balls out of the hand.”
Senga threw his trademark forkball four times; it wasn’t competitive in any of them.
Although the Mets haven’t committed to a rotation beyond Manaea in Game 2, they had informally lined it up for Severino to start Game 3, Jose Quintana in Game 4 and Senga to come back for Game 5. It’s worth wondering if this was a rough enough start to put a Game 5 outing in question for Senga. The Mets do have David Peterson, who pitched behind Senga on Sunday, and Tylor Megill as potential starters to take the ball if needed.
The Mets’ ace entering the year, Senga made just one start in the regular season. He missed the first four months with a shoulder injury, and in his first start back, suffered a serious calf strain. He returned to make an abbreviated start in Game 1 of the NLDS, allowing a leadoff home run but nothing else in a game the Mets came back to win 6-2.
New York is 4-0 so far this postseason when the opponent scores first.
(Photo of Kodai Senga after the first inning: Harry How / Getty Images)
