Los Angeles, United States: Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani blasted the first postseason home run of his career to help the Los Angeles Dodgers claim a 7-5 victory over the San Diego Padres in a thrilling Major League Baseball playoff duel on Saturday. Ohtani crushed a 372-foot three-run rocket into right field off Padres starter Dylan Cease in the second inning to help the Dodgers tie it up at 3-3. They had fallen 3-0 behind following a first-inning onslaught from the Padres' powerful batting line-up.
"The stadium was electric and I was just really able to enjoy the game today," said Ohtani, who is widely regarded as the best player in baseball. "He's a good pitcher and it's not easy to get him, but I really wanted to make sure that I could hit one," added Ohtani, who had never played a postseason game before Saturday. With Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto struggling on the mound, the Padres regained the lead after Xander Bogaerts' two-run double in the third inning made it 5-3.
But Ohtani once again helped spark a Dodgers revival in the fourth inning. Ohtani's single loaded the bases and set up a scoring run for Tommy Edman to cut the deficit to 5-4 before Teoscar Hernandez drove in two runs with a single to right field to make it 6-5. Dodgers catcher Will Smith scampered in for a run to make it 7-5 in the fifth inning.
There was a nervous finale in the ninth inning as the Padres got two men on base. But closer Blake Treinen struck out Manny Machado to clinch a win which.