Mets' Mendoza: Senga 'didn't have it' in Game 1 loss

Carlos Mendoza acknowledges that Kodai Senga was missing something in Game 1 of the NLCS.

"He was off," the New York Mets manager said following the loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. "He didn't have it."

Senga allowed three earned runs, two hits, and four walks in 1 1/3 innings, setting the stage for a 9-0 loss and arguably taking himself out of the running for future starts in the series. He also threw a wild pitch and committed a pitch-clock violation. It was just his third outing of the season.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts agreed with Mendoza's assessment, saying Senga didn't have his "A" stuff and that his normally dominant splitter was "noncompetitive."

Senga's disastrous outing forced the Mets to burn David Peterson and José Buttó. Neither pitcher will be available in Game 2, although Peterson could be available to start Game 5 - if necessary - in place of Senga.

Mendoza hasn't yet released his pitching plans for that game.

“We’ll have a conversation about it," Peterson said of possibly starting Game 5. "We'll talk about where I was pitch-wise and what they see for me the next couple of days, and we'll formulate a game plan from there."