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 MLB playoff duel on Saturday.
Ohtani crushed a 113m 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.
Photo: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images/USA Today
“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.
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. However, 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.
Photo: EPA-EFE
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. However, closer Blake Treinen struck out Manny Machado to clinch a win which gives the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five National League Division Series.
Dodgers slugger Hernandez paid tribute to the inspirational Ohtani after the win.
“Shohei is Shohei — I don’t think there’s anybody playing like him right now,” Hernandez said. “I’m just glad he’s on our team.”
In other playoff action on Saturday, there were wins for the New York Mets and New York Yankees while the Cleveland Guardians also opened their postseason with a victory.
The Mets, who pulled off a ninth inning comeback to stun the Milwaukee Brewers in the wild-card round, once again conjured a late rally for a 6-2 win over the Phillies in their National League Division Series duel in Philadelphia.
The Phillies looked to be on their way to victory after Kyle Schwarber blasted a leadoff homer to give the home side an early 1-0 lead.
Phillies ace Zack Wheeler then blanked the Mets batters through seven innings, giving up just one hit with four walks and nine strikeouts.
However, the Mets jumped on the Phillies relievers with a five-run eighth inning, opening up a 5-1 lead before going on to clinch a win that left Citizen Bank Park in shellshocked silence.
“We know we’re good, and we’ve got good players. And we are executing,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
In the American League meanwhile, the Yankees held their nerve in a see-saw battle with the Kansas City Royals to grab a 6-5 victory and a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five series.
Alex Verdugo was the hero for the Bronx Bombers, driving in a decisive single to score Jazz Chisholm in the bottom of the seventh inning for what turned out to be the winning run in a game that saw no fewer than six lead changes.
In Cleveland, Lane Thomas crushed a three-run home run off Detroit reliever Reese Olson as the Guardians put up five runs without an out in the first inning on the way to a 7-0 victory over the Tigers in their American League divisional series.
“It was awesome,” Thomas said. “It started with the guys in front of me, so I think it wouldn’t have been possible without those guys.”
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
As sporting celebrations go, it does not quite have the charm of Roger Milla’s hip-wiggling shimmy with a corner flag at the 1990 World Cup or the imperious swagger of Usain Bolt’s iconic lightning pose. However, a dance move inspired by US president-elect Donald Trump’s stilted on-stage boogieing has rapidly become the celebration of choice across the US sporting world. From the blood-soaked UFC to the hard-hitting NFL and the reliably decorous world of the LPGA Tour, athletes across North America have succumbed to the viral Trump dance craze in the past week. On Monday, US soccer star Christian Pulisic became the latest
RSS