Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers dominated the Cincinnati Reds, 10-5, in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.
With the decisive win, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series and are now one win away from advancing to face the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series, set to begin Saturday.
The Dodgers were firing on all cylinders in Game 1. Ohtani crushed two home runs, going 2-for-5 at the plate. Teoscar Hernández added power of his own, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two home runs. Tommy Edman chipped in with a solo home run, and Mookie Betts went 2-for-4 to help fuel the offensive outburst.
Dodgers ace Blake Snell held the Reds scoreless through seven innings, finishing with nine strikeouts, four hits allowed, and two earned runs.
The Dodgers’ dominant Game 1 victory was praised by fans as they got the job done at home.
Ohtani homered in both the first and sixth innings—his second a 454-foot blast, the longest of the night—scoring Enrique Hernández to extend the Dodgers’ lead. Teoscar Hernández added a three-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the fifth, while Tommy Edman chipped in with a solo home run of his own.
The Reds finally got on the board in the seventh when Elly De La Cruz drove in Austin Hays, followed by a Tyler Stephenson double that scored De La Cruz to make it 8-2. The Dodgers responded with two more runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles from Alex Call and Ben Rortvedt, pushing the lead to 10-2.
Cincinnati rallied for three runs in the top of the eighth, forcing the Dodgers to cycle through three relievers, but still trailed 10-5—the score that would hold after closer Blake Treinen shut things down for Los Angeles.
The Dodgers and Reds will meet again in Game 2 on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. Zack Littell is set to face Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the pitching matchup.
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