Shohei Ohtani leads Dodgers past Padres in playoff debut
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run home run in the first playoff game of his career and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 7-5 victory over the San Diego Padres on Saturday in Game 1 of their National League Division Series.
Teoscar Hernandez delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the fourth as the Dodgers ended a six-game postseason losing streak that extended to the 2022 NLDS when they were eliminated by the Padres.
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Five Los Angeles relievers combined for six scoreless innings with Blake Treinen going 1 2/3 innings to earn the save, ending the game with a strikeout of Manny Machado with two runners on base. Ryan Brasier (1-0) earned the win by giving up one hit over 1 2/3 innings.
“It’s really difficult for a playoff team to be able to get into and feel comfortable playing in the first game of the postseason, especially with the long layoff, but I think everybody really contributed today, the entire team, including the bullpen, especially,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “And it’s always difficult to kind of close the gap between playing in live situations and not.”
Machado hit a two-run home run in the first inning and Xander Bogaerts had a two-run double in the third but the Padres lost their third consecutive game against the Dodgers going back to the regular season.
Fernando Tatis Jr. scored a pair of runs for San Diego, which won eight of the 13 games between the teams in the regular season.
The Padres took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI ground out from Jurickson Profar. One batter later, Machado hit his two-run home run for a 3-0 lead.
“Starting the game with three runs is a huge thing. But we knew it wasn’t going to be enough,” Machado said. “We have to continue stringing together good at-bats as a team and compete.”
The Dodgers tied it in the second when Will Smith walked, Gavin Lux singled and, two outs later, Ohtani ripped a fastball over the wall in right field. The home run came after Ohtani hit a National League-best 54 in the regular season to begin a 10-year, $700-millon contract.
“It obviously got us back in the game. It just got the momentum back for us and just gave us life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani’s blast. “I think from pitch one, the fans were just engaged, were in it. I just felt that energy. I think Shohei feeds off that. But that was just a huge hit.”
One inning later, the Padres moved back on top 5-3 on Bogaerts’ two-run double. The Dodgers responded in the fourth, loading the bases on three consecutive singles, the third from Ohtani.
Tommy Edman scored on a wild pitch by Adrian Morejon (0-1) before Hernandez hit his two-run single to right for a 6-5 advantage.
The Dodgers added a run in the fifth when Will Smith scored on Edman’s double-play ground ball.
The Padres loaded the bases in the eighth inning on three walks, including two off right-hander Michael Kopech, before Treinen struck out Donovan Solano to end the threat.
Neither starter was sharp, with Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto lasting three innings, giving up five runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout. Padres right-hander Dylan Cease was charged with five runs on six hits over 3 1/3 innings with two walks and five strikeouts.
“I felt calm, I just didn’t execute well. I never got into a rhythm,” Cease said. “I’ve got a couple of days to prep and take another shot but it’s disappointing.”
