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

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

6 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES -- Any postseason jitters may have had appeared to dissipate in a hurry.

Ohtani wasted no time acclimating himself to the bright lights of his first postseason in the Majors, belting a game-tying three-run homer in his second at-bat against Padres starter Dylan Cease in the second inning of the Dodgers' 7-5 win in NL Division Series Game 1 on Saturday at Dodger Stadium to help his team take a 1-0 series lead.

The homer came one pitch after he fouled a ball off his knee.

At 111.8 mph off the bat, Ohtani's blast was the fourth-hardest-hit home run by a Dodger in the postseason since Statcast began tracking in 2015. As he watched the ball leave the yard, Ohtani unleashed a mighty bat flip and yelled with enthusiasm before beginning his trot around the bases.

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).

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.

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, and when he uncorked a 2-1 four-seamer that clipped the top of the zone, Ohtani made him pay.

“We do game plan for [Ohtani]," Padres manager Mike Shildt said in an in-game interview after the bottom of the second. "We talked about it before the game: The margin for error is not high, but there are holes. It’s just a matter of execution. … What’s also important is making sure we get the people out before he gets up.”