Home Baseball Shohei Ohtani Dazzles MLB Fans in Playoff Debut as Dodgers Beat Padres in NLDS Game 1

Shohei Ohtani Dazzles MLB Fans in Playoff Debut as Dodgers Beat Padres in NLDS Game 1

Baseball — 10/09/2024

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 05: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after hitting a single during the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres in Game One of the Division Series at Dodger Stadium on October 05, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Harry How/Getty Images

Shohei Ohtani shined as the Los Angeles Dodgers took Game 1 against the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series on Saturday night.

Ohtani went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run in the first postseason game of his career, helping the Dodgers secure a 7-5 win.

Bleacher Report@BleacherReport

SHOHEI OHTANI CRUSHES A 3-RUN HOMER TO TIE THINGS UP 😤<br><br>HIS FIRST EVER POSTSEASON HR 🔥<br><br>(via <a href=”https://twitter.com/MLB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@MLB</a>)<br><br> <a href=”https://t.co/OtucOZnY4s”>pic.twitter.com/OtucOZnY4s</a>

The Padres jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage in the first inning following a homer from Manny Machado. It didn’t take long for Los Angeles to respond, as Ohtani’s three-run blast occurred in the bottom of the second.

San Diego took the lead once again, pulling ahead 5-3 after a two-run double by Xander Bogaerts. Los Angeles fought back in the fourth inning, scoring three runs due to a wild pitch as well as a single by Teoscar Hernández.

 

The Dodgers ran into some trouble in the eighth, as the Padres loaded the bases with two outs. However, reliever Blake Treinen was able to strike out utility infielder Donovan Solano and prevent San Diego from scoring.

MLB@MLB

Blake Treinen has the <a href=”https://twitter.com/Dodgers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Dodgers</a> three outs away from a Game 1 victory! <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NLDS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NLDS</a> <a href=”https://t.co/8mqzraYEyw”>pic.twitter.com/8mqzraYEyw</a>

Fans applauded the effort by the Dodgers and were astonished by Ohtani’s playoff debut.

Noah Camras@noahcamras

Shohei Ohtani was worth every bit of that $700 million.<br><br>He now has the same amount of home runs as the entire Dodgers team in the 2023 NLDS.<br><br>It’s the second inning of Game 1.

Sarah Langs@SlangsOnSports

the Dodgers entered today 0-14 in their postseason history after trailing by 3+ runs thru the first inning<br><br>BUT THEY DIDN’T HAVE SHOHEI OHTANI THOSE FIRST 14 TIMES…NOW THEY DO!! <a href=”https://t.co/vyObxaHw95″>https://t.co/vyObxaHw95</a>

JBond@jbondwagon

SHOHEI HAS ARRIVED! GOAT

Joseph@JHeat2119

That bat flip.. bro means business

Jim Rome@jimrome

Freaking Ohtani. No words. This dude.

Codify@CodifyBaseball

Shohei Ohtani has played four postseason innings and has hit a home run and a single and scored two runs and driven in three runs. <a href=”https://t.co/BpjOMhPWST”>pic.twitter.com/BpjOMhPWST</a>

Casey Stern@CaseyStern

We may appreciate watching Ohtani…and yet, I’m not sure that we appreciate it enough.

The Dodgers will look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead on Sunday at 8:03 p.m. ET.