PHILADELPHIA — Teoscar Hernández rallied the Dodgers with a three-run home run in the seventh inning that bailed out Shohei Ohtani, both on the mound and at the plate, and led Los Angeles to a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of their NL Division Series on Saturday night.
Ohtani struck out four straight times at the plate, the final time in the seventh with no outs and two runners on against Matt Strahm.
No worries, at least for the reigning World Series champions.
Following a Mookie Betts popout, Hernández silenced a roaring Phillies crowd with an opposite-field drive to right off Strahm for a 5-3 lead. The veteran slugger gestured in wild celebration in his trot around the bases.
His hat off, Ohtani rose from his dugout seat to join in the fun and exhaled once he was on track for the win.
A three-time MVP, Ohtani recovered from a three-run second in his first career playoff pitching start to shut down the Phillies and finish with nine strikeouts over six innings.
Alex Vesia retired pinch hitter Edmundo Sosa with the bases loaded in the eighth to preserve the lead. Roki Sasaki worked the ninth for his first career save.
Ohtani had admitted to nerves about playing in front of a crowd that voraciously tried to live up to its four hours of hell moniker — he was jeered as he stepped on the field during warmups — and he never found his footing at the plate.
Ohtani walked in the ninth.
Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez struck out Ohtani three times, included a called strike three in the fifth inning that sent a towel-waving crowd into delirium.
Sánchez was even fired up on that one and punched his fist in the air as he left the mound.
The Oh-4 became but a mere footnote in an exhilarating comeback for a Dodgers team riding high after thumping the Reds in two games in the wild-card series.
Game 2 is Monday in Philadelphia.
Sánchez was thrust into the ace role when Zack Wheeler was ruled out for the season in August with complications from a blood clot. Wheeler was in full uniform and received a roaring ovation in pregame introductions.
Sánchez pitched early like a No. 1 starter.
He fanned Ohtani on three pitches to start the game and breezed through five scoreless innings.
Kiké Hernández chased Sánchez in the sixth when he ripped a two-out, two-run double down the left-field line that made it 3-2. David Robertson retired pinch hitter Max Muncy to end the threat.
Robertson, the 40-year-old late-season pickup, allowed a single and hit Will Smith with a pitch to open the seventh before yielding to Strahm.
While disaster struck late for the Phillies bullpen, Vesia saved Tyler Glasnow in the eighth. Glasnow, pitching out of the bullpen in a short series, loaded the bases before he got the hook. Vesia got Sosa, who hit three home runs in a game last month, to fly out to center field.
The Phillies had only two hits after they scored three times in the third on J.T. Realmuto’s two-run triple and Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly.