LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 05: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates after hitting a three-run home run in the second inning during Game 1 of the Division Series presented by Booking.com between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
In the 2022 National League Division Series the Dodgers won Game 1, then the Padres took the next three. San Diego will have to try and follow a similar pattern this year.
That's going to be a lot more difficult with Shohei Ohtani in the mix.
The Dodgers slugger hit a 3-run homer in his playoffs debut to help the Dodgers come from behind and top the Padres 7-5 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. These longtime rivals staged the very definition of a seesaw battle.
Luis Arraez led off like he so often does, lining a single to left field off Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He moved to 3rd base without a steal or a base hit. A passed ball by catcher Will Smith and a wild pitch let Arraez move up to 3rd base with nobody out.
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Fernando Tatis Jr. walked and Arraez scored on an RBI groundout by Jurickson Profar, making it 1-0 and bringing up Manny Machado. There might not be another opposing player as despised at Dodger Stadium than Machado. Amid a constant chorus of boos he launched a 2-run home run to left field, bringing the crowd down to "cocktail party decibels."
It was up to Dylan Cease to keep the Dodgers from jumping right back into it. He had 10 days between starts, a long time for someone used to taking the ball every five days. Cease said before his start he was using the extra time to let his body rest while working on his mechanics to make sure he stayed sharp.
He had some trouble finding the strike zone and it cost him.
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Cease started the 2nd inning walking Will Smith and giving up a single to Gavin Lux. He struck out San Diego native Tommy Edman and got Miguel Rojas to pop up on the infield, bringing up Shohei Ohtani. The presumptive National League MVP is NOT the person you want at the plate with runners on base.
Ohtani, playing in the first postseason game of his already storied career, unloaded on a fastball at the top of the zone, ripping it 111 MPH over the right field wall for a game-tying 3-run homer.
The entire series will probably be like this, each team taking turns making comebacks. Tatis Jr. led off with a double to left-centerfield but the best at-bat of the inning might have come from rookie Jackson Merrill. After Profar and Machado were retired, Merrill fell behind 0-2 before working a walk to bring up Xander Bogaerts.
He didn't let Yamamoto off the hook. Xander lined a 2-run double to the left field corner, putting San Diego back on top 5-3. The Dodgers starter got Jake Cronenworth to fly out and end the inning but his night was over. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in Ryan Brasier for the 4th inning.
The early hook should not be a big deal for a Dodgers bullpen that's as well-rested as it's been since before pitchers and catchers reported. And they are not the only relief corps getting tested.
Cease only got one out in the 4th inning before Edman laid down a bunt single and Rojas lined a single to left, putting two runners on again for Ohtani. Padres manager Mike Shildt replaced Cease with left-hander Adrian Morejon. For the season Ohtani had an .867 OPS against lefties while demolishing right-handers with an 1.128 OPS.
I suppose you could say it worked. Ohtani only singled to centerfield, loading the bases and setting off an unorthodox series of events. Morejon uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Edman to score and cut the lead to 5-4. Shildt elected to intentionally walk Betts, re-loading the bases for Freddie Freeman. The Dodgers slugger hit a grounder to the right side that looked like trouble.
Donovan Solano made a backhanded stop and threw a one-hopper to the plate, where Kyle Higashioka made a nice pick to get the lead runner. Shildt went to the bullpen again, bringing in Jeremiah Estrada to face Teoscar Hernandez, who lined the first pitch just in front of Merrill in centerfield. The ball bounced and glanced off Merrill's glove, allowing two runs to score and put L.A. on top 6-5.
The first four innings were so eventful they took just about four hours to play. After that the game reverted to something resembling normal baseball. The Dodgers got another one in the 5th inning thanks to a throwing error by Machado, running the L.A. lead up to 7-5.
The Padres made it interesting in the 8th inning. Profar led off with a walk. Machado struck out looking then Merrill had another stellar at-bat, walking on the 10th pitch he saw. Bogaerts popped up before Cronenworth drew a 2-out walk to load the bases for Solano ... who struck out swinging.
San Diego threatened again in the 9th inning. With two outs Tatis Jr. singled and Profar drew a walk from Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen, bringing Machado to the plate as the go-ahead run. Manny waved at a pitch well out of the strike zone to end the game and put L.A. up 1-0 in the series.
By the time it was all said and done each team had used six pitchers, and they get to go right back out and do it again on Sunday for Game 2. The Padres will send Yu Darvish to the mound against Jack Flaherty. First pitch is set for 5:03 p.m.
