Ohtani DRILLS first postseason HR, adds epic bat-throw flourish

LOS ANGELES -- From the very first swing he took under the bright lights of the postseason, it was clear that Shohei Ohtani was intent on doing damage.

When asked the day before if he was nervous about making his postseason debut, Ohtani didn't even wait for his interpreter, Will Ireton, to repeat the question in Japanese before replying, "Nope." The aggressive hack he took at the first offering he saw from Padres starter Dylan Cease on Saturday night backed that assertion, although Ohtani eventually flied out to left.

But it didn't take long for Ohtani to leave the yard, and he did so in emphatic fashion in his next trip to the plate, belting a game-tying three-run shot off Cease -- followed by a mighty bat flip -- in the second inning of the Dodgers' 7-5 win in NL Division Series Game 1 at Dodger Stadium to help his team take a 1-0 series lead.

"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."

Ohtani picked up where he left off from his historic regular season, in which he became the first player with a 50-50 season and set new franchise records in homers (54) and total bases (411). He became the sixth Dodgers player to homer in his first career postseason game, joining Gavin Lux (2019), Max Muncy (’18), Tom Wilson (’04), Mike Piazza (1995) and Jim Gilliam (’53).

By the time Ohtani touched all four bags, the energy in a sold-out Dodger Stadium was back with authority after a gut-punch beginning to the contest had dampened the enthusiasm some. The Dodgers were in a deficit before they stepped up to the plate after right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a three-spot in the first inning, and they stranded two runners in the bottom half of the frame.

"You could almost feel it in the stadium," Muncy said. "Then, thankfully, we have a guy whose name is Shohei Ohtani, and he injected an absolute lightning bolt into the stadium."

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After Will Smith led off the second with a walk and Lux followed with a single, L.A. was in danger of again stranding a pair of baserunners vs. Cease when Ohtani stepped up to the plate with two outs. The Padres had an open base to work with, but of course, Ohtani was followed in the lineup by two other former MVPs -- Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

Cease opted to pitch to Ohtani. Even after fouling a ball off his left knee midway through the at-bat, Ohtani did not seem daunted by the gravity of the moment. He composed himself, then turned on the next pitch -- a 2-1 four-seamer that clipped the top of the zone, similarly placed to the offering Cease had used to retire Ohtani in the first inning.

This time, Ohtani did not miss. At 111.8 mph off the bat, his blast was the fourth-hardest-hit home run by a Dodger in the postseason since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

"[Cease is] one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball," Ohtani said. "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."

The Padres took the momentum right back by plating two more runs against Yamamoto in the top of the third inning and chasing him after three frames, but when Ohtani next came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth, with two runners on again, anticipation was high as much of the crowd rose to its feet and waved rally towels with a frenetic energy.

Cease was removed before getting another crack at the Dodgers superstar, and with left-hander Adrian Morejon on for the Padres, Ohtani settled for a broken-bat single that loaded the bases and helped set the table for a three-run rally that gave Los Angeles its first lead of the night, one that the team would not relinquish.

This is the type of game that Ohtani has long dreamed of playing in. And as much as the baseball world has reveled in him getting his first taste of postseason baseball, it is likely that no one is happier to see him in this type of atmosphere than Ohtani himself.

"I could really feel the intensity of the stadium before the game began," he said, "and I thoroughly enjoyed it."