The Los Angeles Dodgers overcame an early deficit to defeat the San Diego Padres, 7-5, in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday night.
The Padres jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, led by Manny Machado’s two-run homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto. That quickly took the air out of Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers wasted no time answering back.
Shohei Ohtani belted a game-tying three-run homer in the bottom of the second that injected plenty of life back into the building. “It obviously got us back in the game. It just got the momentum back for us and just gave us life,” manager Dave Roberts said.
“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.”
Alex Vesia, who logged a scoreless inning in the victory, agreed that Ohtani’s hit gave the Dodgers a big lift. “It mattered for sure. That’s a huge momentum swing. Then to put up zeros inning after inning, it’s huge.”
Will Smith also believes the home run helped the team get their mojo back after falling behind. “That was huge from him. We knew we had to score runs to win a ballgame,” Smith said.
“They jumped on us, they punched us in the mouth, or whatever you want to call it, but we knew we weren’t out of it. Just got to keep fighting.”
Shohei Ohtani ‘enjoyed’ Dodgers postseason debut
Ohtani waited seven years to play in his first MLB postseason game and it certainly lived up to expectations. “I could really feel the intensity of the stadium before the game began, and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” he said through translator Will Ireton.
Ohtani’s home run came on a 96.9 mph fastball from Dylan Cease at the top of strike zone, which was the same pitch he threw to retire the two-way star in the first inning.
“He’s one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and the other pitches are really good as well. So I was able to get to it, and was happy that I was able to do so,” Ohtani said.
Ohtani praised his Dodgers teammates for overcoming two deficits and picking up where they left off after a six-day layoff. “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,” he began.
“But I think everybody really contributed today. The entire team, including the bullpen especially. And it’s always difficult to kind of close the gap between playing in live situations and not.”
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