We’ve seen this pitching matchup before.
Given fully rested pitching staffs, when they could have picked any healthy arm on their rosters, the Dodgers and Yankees chose Jack Flaherty and Gerrit Cole to start Game 1 of the World Series. Tonight, looking to clinch or stay alive, each team is turning again to its best option. Game 1 went more or less as expected for each.
Cole’s big mistake was a one-out triple by Kiké Hernández in the bottom of the fifth. A sacrifice fly scored the run and the Dodgers had a temporary lead. Flaherty’s big mistake came a half inning later on a two-run homer by Giancarlo Stanton to put the Yankees ahead 2-1. Flaherty was pulled immediately after. Cole stayed in to get through the top of the order in the sixth, retiring Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to leave a leadoff double stranded. It might have been the biggest turning point of the game if not for Freeman’s walkoff in the 10th.
The shift of venue — from Dodger Stadium in Game 1 to Yankee Stadium for Game 5 — is interesting mostly for Flaherty, who’s never pitched at Yankee Stadium in his career. Historically, Flaherty has been better at home than on the road, but he was slightly better on the road (2.94 ERA, 1.02 WHIP) than at home this season (3.44 ERA, 1.12 WHIP). It is, perhaps, notable that Flaherty’s worst postseason start came on the road and in New York (in the NLCS against the Mets) though the matchup and the stakes are quite a bit different tonight.
Like Flaherty, Cole was better on the road (2.49 ERA) than at home (4.31) this season, but his road starts were against relatively weak opponents and most of them happened late in the season, when he was better in general. For his career, Cole has a 3.12 ERA as a Yankee and a 3.13 ERA at Yankee Stadium. He pitches like his usual self in the Bronx.
Neither pitcher, though, has ever made a start quite like this, either with a championship within reach or a World Series completely on the line.