Game 1 of the National League Division Series lived up to the hype, with an excellent starting pitching battle between two of the best teams in baseball. Teoscar Hernández atoned for an early misplay on defense with a three-run home run that gave the Dodgers a 5-3 win over the Phillies on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Down a run in the seventh inning, Andy Pages singled and Will Smith was hit by a pitch from David Robertson to open the frame before Matt Strahm got two outs.
That set up Hernández, who hit a ball into the right field seats for a game-turning three-run home run.
Hernández’s third home run in three games this postseason completed a comeback from an early 3-0 deficit.
The first three Phillies reached against Shohei Ohtani in the second inning, including a hit by JT Realmuto into the right field gap that was played horribly by Teoscar Hernández into a two-run triple.
The misplay by Hernández — who was tied for 106th with minus-12 Outs Above Average among 110 qualified outfielders this season — and laborious backup by Andy Pages put Realmuto on third base with no outs, leading to a third run in the inning even as Ohtani retired the next three hitters.
The blip didn’t faze Ohtani on the mound, as he retired 15 of his final 17 batters faced to get through six innings without allowing anything else. Ohtani in his six innings struck out nine and allowed those three second-inning runs. Herández’s home run put him in line for the win.
Cristopher Sánchez dominated the Dodgers for most of the night with eight strikeouts, and didn’t allow any runs until the sixth inning. A walk and single with two outs kept the inning alive, then Kiké Hernández lined a double into the left field corner to score both Freddie Freeman and Tommy Edman, getting the Dodgers to within a run.
Sánchez in his previous two starts against the Dodgers this season threw his changeup only 22.6 percent of the time, but unleashed it 40.4 percent of the time in Game 1, and got 12 of his 18 swinging strikes on the pitch, keeping the Dodgers off balance most of the night. The double by Hernández came on a slider, Sánchez’s final pitch.
Kiké Hernández has five hits in 12 at-bats (.417) in the first three games this postseason, with two doubles and three runs batted in.
With Ohtani out after six innings and 89 pitches, the Dodgers turned to arguably their greatest strength — more starting pitching. In came Tyler Glasnow, who pitched three innings in the previous 13 days, and with a potential Game 4 start still five days away. That set the stage for an extended outing for Glasnow, and he did get five outs. But two singles and a walk in the eighth loaded the bases with two outs, ending any hopes of a three-inning save.
The Dodgers had to settle for a regular save opportunity, and instead brought in actual reliever Alex Vesia, who got righty pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa to fly out for one giant exhale, and a lead preserved.
Roki Sasaki came into a clean ninth and worked around a one-out double to record his first professional save. Starting pitchers got 26 of 27 outs in Game 1
Things got a little messy at times, but the Dodgers found a way to win. Now they’re up 1-0 in the best-of-5 NLDS.
NLDS Game 1 particulars
Home run: Teoscar Hernández (3)
WP — Shohei Ohtani (1-0): 6 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
LP — David Robertson (0-1): 1/3 IP, 1 hit, 2 runs
Sv — Roki Sasaki (1): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 strikeout
Up next
Blake Snell makes his second start of the postseason in Game 2 in Philadelphia on Monday night (3:08 p.m. PT; TBS, truTV, HBO Max), in a battle of left-handers against Jesús Luzardo for the Phillies.
