LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani rewrote the record book during his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, he’s getting a chance to make more history in his highly anticipated playoff debut.
Ohtani hit a tying, three-run homer with two outs in the second inning to help Los Angeles win its Division Series opener Saturday night. The Dodgers went on to a 7-5 victory over the San Diego Padres, a team they battled down to the wire before earning their 11th NL West title in 12 years.
“It’s been insane how good he’s been with runners in scoring position,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he does get those opportunities you feel like he’s going to cash them in.”
The Japanese superstar sent a 2-1 pitch from Dylan Cease into right field for a 372-foot shot that had the sellout crowd of 53,028 _ including actors Brad Pitt and Rob Lowe — on its feet.
“I could really feel the intensity of the stadium before the game began and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.
He finished 2 for 5 with three RBIs, two runs scored and two strikeouts as 88-year-old Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax looked on from behind home plate.
“It was pretty exciting,” Ohtani said.
He flied out to left in his first at-bat.
“The focus was really on just having my swing, the quality at-bat that I look for despite being in an excited, high-intensity environment,” Ohtani said. “Although I was out that at-bat, I felt pretty good and wanted to carry that on throughout the other at-bats.”
The Padres had taken a 3-0 lead in the first against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ohtani’s countryman who is also making his postseason debut in the best-of-five National League Division Series.
Ohtani, who batted .310 during the regular season, drove in Will Smith, who walked, and Gavin Lux, who singled, to make it 3-3.
“It just got the momentum back for us and just gave us life,” Roberts said. “From pitch one, the fans were just engaged, were in it. I just felt that energy. I think Shohei feeds off that.”
San Diego went ahead 5-3 before the Dodgers rallied with three runs in the fourth. Ohtani had a broken-bat single and later scored, along with Mookie Betts, on Teoscar Hernandez’s single that gave the Dodgers their first lead, 6-5.
“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 everyone really contributed,” Ohtani said.
Ohtani appeared amped in the dugout before the game. In the batter’s box, he seemingly flipped a switch and was laser-focused on the task at hand.
“You can even see it in his first at-bat, just the discipline in the strike zone, to get back into a count and then to fly out,” Roberts said. “I just really have never seen a guy in the biggest of moments come through as consistently as he has. I wish a lot of other players had that ability. He’s just very unique.”
Ohtani is getting his first chance on the October stage after spending the past six years with the Los Angeles Angels, who never had a winning record during his tenure.
He signed a record $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers as a free agent in December. The two-way phenom didn’t pitch this season while rehabbing from a second major elbow surgery. That allowed him to focus on his offence, and he became the first major league player with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.