The Dodgers had been here before.

After an emotional five-game division series against a National League West opponent. Playing in an NL Championship Series against a team they were much less familiar with. They are four wins away from reaching the World Series and are considered the safe favorite to reach the World Series. But we have to regroup and make a 48-hour change from one series to the next.

In 2021, the Dodgers couldn't get it done. After defeating the San Francisco Giants in Game 5 of the NLDS, they lost Game 1 of the NLCS to the Atlanta Braves two days later. They never recovered. Their October ended early.

This year the club faced eerily similar circumstances, just with less travel.

On Friday, they experienced the highlight of their season when they eliminated the San Diego Padres in a win-take-all game at Dodger Stadium.

They were back at it again on Sunday against the New York Mets.

This time the two-day turnaround went more smoothly than before. After a few late nights from the coaching staff and a single day off for an undermanned roster, the Dodgers won Game 1 of the NLCS with a 9-0 scoreline.

The offense jumped on Mets starter Kodai Senga early, tagging him with three runs in less than two innings before adding three more in the fourth inning.

Jack Flaherty pitched seven dominant innings, making for the club's longest scoreless playoff start since Clayton Kershaw in the 2020 wild card. In doing so, he extended the pitching staff's scoreless innings streak this week to a whopping 33 innings – setting a postseason one record in Major League Baseball.

As if that weren't enough, the Dodgers' defense was brilliant, making diving catches at the wall, reaching for snags over the foul-ground barrier and even throwing out a baserunner after an unwitting error by the Mets' designated hitter Jesse out of Blinker in the fifth inning.

When the game finally ended, most of the 53,503 spectators had already left the stadium.

At this point, a clear statement about Game 1 had already been made a long time ago.

Sunday wasn't going to be easy for the Dodgers, not after the hectic 48 hours leading up to it.

After all, the buildup to this series was nothing more than preparation for the Padres, a team the Dodgers had already faced 13 times this year, including the penultimate series of the regular season.

When the Dodgers last played the Mets in late May, New York was 11 games under .500, appeared to be headed for a fire sale at the trade deadline, and got to the point where one of its relievers appeared to say he was playing for the “worst team.” (replacement Jorge López later claimed he had been misquoted), it was nonetheless credible.

Since then, however, the Mets have played like a “completely different team,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Freddie Freeman celebrates with Mookie Betts after both scored on a single by Max Muncy in the first inning on Sunday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Their 66 wins after May 29 – the last loss in a three-game sweep against the Dodgers – were the most in MLB. Their first two rounds of the postseason were marked by dramatic moments, including Pete Alonso's go-ahead ninth-inning home run in the wild-card series and Francisco Lindor's NLDS-sealing grand slam a week later.

While the Dodgers struggled with the Padres, the Mets also enjoyed a few extra days of rest so they could start their top pitcher, Senga, as the starting pitcher for Sunday's opener.

But the Dodgers were ready.

Although the preparation lasted only one day, their coaching staff and scouting department worked much of Friday night, all of Saturday off and into the early hours of Sunday morning to get both the lineup and pitching staff up to speed bring.

“Basically, you study for a test,” said hitting coach Aaron Bates, who, like most of the Dodgers staff, spent more time in meetings than sleeping between the two series.

“You sleep later,” Bates joked. “Just drink lots of coffee, ashoc (energy drinks), whatever you need to do to stay awake. And then let the adrenaline out.”

The Dodgers also had a plan against the Mets' Japanese right-hander, who they knew would still face a limited number of pitches after just one start in the regular season due to shoulder and calf injuries.

“A saying that we've always had when you approach a guy who maybe doesn't give a lot of innings, or maybe it's an opener or something else, is: He'll go as long as we let him go,” said third baseman Max Muncy.

Because Senga lacked any command, the Dodgers didn't let him go for long.

In the first inning, Mookie Betts walked on four pitches, Freddie Freeman reached for a free base after a full count, and Teoscar Hernández sat on four more balls out of the zone to load the bases.

A subsequent visit to the mound by Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner didn't help.

Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy struck out Mets baserunner Jesse Winker in the fifth inning on Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

With Will Smith hitting a shallow fly ball for the second time, Muncy scored for a 2-1 count and then threw a cutter to center field for a single. Betts scored easily. Then he turned and watched as Freeman hobbled across home plate, with heavy ligaments wrapped around his sprained right ankle. With Freeman unable to slow down quickly enough, Betts scooped him up into his arms and hugged him, a smile on both faces.

After another walk in the second inning, which was followed by a sacrifice bunt and an RBI single by Shohei Ohtani – who is six for eight with runners on base this postseason but otherwise hitless in 16 at-bats – Senga finally became chased out of the game.

The Dodgers continued to extend the lead in the fourth inning, executing another successful sac bunt (it was their first game with two of them since September 2021) that led to an RBI single from Edman and then two more via Ohtani's single tackled from the wall and Freeman's single reversed.

The 6-0 lead was more than enough for Flaherty, who retired his first nine batters, held the Mets scoreless through the first four innings and finished his 98-pitch gem with six strikeouts.

Flaherty faltered briefly in the fifth, giving up two consecutive singles to start the inning. The second time, however, Winker was thrown on the bases as the lead runner and made a puzzling decision after being hit by Kiké Hernández in center field.

Shohei Ohtani points to Mookie Betts after Betts hit a three-run double in the eighth inning on Sunday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

When Hernández caught the bouncing ball, he lined up his body to throw it to third, but instead fooled Winker – who was between second and third – with a throw from second. While Winker bobbed his head back and forth in confusion as to where the ball had gone, he slowed his trot, allowing Gavin Lux to shoot to third, where Muncy subbed him out.

It was that kind of game for the Dodgers, who followed it up with a three-run double from Betts in the eighth.

Another quick turnaround awaits, as a Game 2 matinee is scheduled for Monday afternoon at 1:08 p.m.

But sleep can wait in October, as the Dodgers coaching staff happily noted before the game.