PHILADELPHIA — Once again, somehow, Shohei Ohtani delivered a baseball first.
Since making his MLB debut in 2018, the two-way Japanese unicorn has clubbed 280 home runs, stolen 165 bases and made 100 starts as a pitcher. Along the way, he has reshaped the sport, raising, re-raising and then shattering our collective expectations of what a ballplayer can do. He closed out the World Baseball Classic by striking out Mike Trout. He went 50-50. He won a World Series in his first trip to October.
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But on Saturday night at the Philadelphia Loud House known as Citizens Bank Park, Ohtani broke new ground yet again, making his first career postseason start on the mound in L.A.’s 5-3 victory over Philadelphia in NLDS Game 1.
“I think this is something we’ve been waiting for all year,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “So he’s ready for this moment.”
Ohtani exited the game after six frames with a line that undersells how dominant he looked in October outing No. 1: 3 runs, 3 hits, 9 strikeouts and just 1 walk.
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Besides a messy second inning in which all three Philadelphia runs were scored, Ohtani was borderline unhittable. Only two hitters reached base outside that frame. Neither scored. He stifled the top three bats in Philly’s lineup all night; Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper finished a collective 0-for-9 with five strikeouts against him.
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Most importantly, Ohtani found a way to recenter himself after that early tumble, keeping the score close until the Dodgers’ offense found a way to claw back into the game. In fact, Ohtani was replaced by Tyler Glasnow just moments after a Teoscar Hernández three-run blast gave Los Angeles a 5-3 lead in the seventh that proved to be enough for the win.
All three of the Phillies’ runs off Ohtani came in the bottom of the second inning. Third baseman Alec Bohm led off the frame with a well-worked, full-count walk. His 2-1 take on a nasty Ohtani cutter a smidge beyond the zone flipped the plate appearance and the inning. Working from the stretch, Ohtani’s fastball command appeared to worsen, and the Phillies immediately took advantage, with the hirsute Brandon Marsh cranking a 100-mph, middle-middle heater into center field for a single.
Then came the crucial swing of Ohtani’s night: a rocket, two-run RBI triple off J.T. Realmuto’s bat. Once more, Ohtani hucked a triple-digit heater down the pipe. Realmuto didn’t miss it, keeping his hands inside the pitch and driving it into the right-center-field gap. Hernández, the right fielder, took a questionable route to the ball, which rolled all the way to the wall, allowing Marsh to score from first. Two batters later, Harrison Bader lofted a sacrifice fly to deep center, scoring Realmuto.
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But then Ohtani struck out Bryson Stott to stop the bleeding and proceeded to retire the next seven Phillies in order. He plunked Bader and surrendered a curling, line-drive single to Stott in the bottom of the fifth but then retired Turner on a soft liner to short and set Schwarber down swinging.
Ohtani came back out for the sixth and recorded two more strikeouts before a lengthy top of the seventh by his own offense precipitated a pitching change.
“I just believe that his whole life has been about preparing him for big moments,” Roberts said pregame. “He never gets out of himself, never lets the emotions or the moment get too big. Seems like he’s always under control.”
Ohtani’s magnificent showing on the mound should serve as a salve for what was a brutal night for him at the plate. He struck out in his first four plate appearances, something he did only two times this season, before drawing a walk in the ninth.
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Even so, Los Angeles’ deep offense picked up its superstar with that three-spot in the seventh.
In other words, nobody will remember Ohtani’s 0-for-4.
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