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The New York Mets dominated right from the start to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-3 on the road in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Monday. As a result, the series is level at 1-1 after the Dodgers had thumped the Mets 9-0 in the opening encounter of the seven-game series the previous night.
That keeps New York right on track to continue a remarkable trend in MLB postseason history. Thus far, every team that got shut out and lost the opening game of a playoff series by nine or more runs has eventually gone on to clinch the series.
As per MLB Network analyst Sarah Langs, all five teams that were previously shut out to a 9-0 win or more in the first game of a playoff series turned around their fortunes eventually.
In the 1945 World Series, the Chicago Cubs beat the Detroit Tigers 9-0 in the opening clash but went on to lose the series in seven games. The Chicago Cubs won 11-0 in their first game of the 1959 World Series, but the Los Angeles Dodgers needed six games to win the championship.
Game 1 of the 1984 World Series saw the Milwaukee Braves thrash the St. Louis Cardinals 10-0, yet they ended up losing the Fall Classic in the decisive seventh game. During the 1984 NLCS, the Chicago Cubs won 14-0 in the first encounter and followed up with another win in the next meeting before dropping three on the trot to lose the five-game series against the San Diego Padres.
The Tampa Bay Rays won 9-0 in the opening game of the 2011 American League Division Series, but the Texas Rangers won the next three meetings before heading into their second straight World Series.
The Mets have been the comeback kings of 2024
The New York Mets secured a late entry into the 2024 MLB postseason after coming back from an abysmal opening two months of the season. They were down 11 games under .500 at the beginning of June before putting in an outstanding run to finish the campaign with an 88-74 record and clinch the final wildcard berth in the NL.
Last week, the Mets became only the eighth team in MLB history to reach the LCS despite being 11 or more games below .500 during the regular season. Meanwhile, more than half of their six victories this postseason have been secured despite conceding the lead initially.
Therefore, the Mets seem capable of becoming the sixth team to win a playoff series after losing the first game in a shutout with nine or more runs conceded.
