LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez each hit a pair of home runs, Blake Snell went seven strong innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers finished off a 10-5 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of their National League wild-card series on Tuesday.
Tommy Edman added a homer as the defending champion Dodgers moved a victory away from a matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Division Series.
The Dodgers’ five home runs tied a franchise record for a playoff game.
Snell (1-0) gave up two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and one walk in his first playoff start since 2022, when he was a member of the San Diego Padres.
Reds right-hander Hunter Greene (0-1) allowed five runs on six hits, including three home runs, in three innings as the Reds continue to search for their first playoff victory since 2012. He struck out four and walked two. Elly De La Cruz drove in two runs and scored one for Cincinnati.
The Reds’ offense came to life late, scoring all five runs over the final three innings.
Ohtani turned around a 100.4 mph fastball from Greene in the opening inning with a line-drive home run to right field that came off the bat at 117.7 mph.
“It was a really hard pitch to hit, but I felt like I reacted pretty well and I was glad to help the team score early,” Ohtani said.
Los Angeles took control in the third when Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy walked with one out and Hernandez hit a home run to left field for a 4-0 lead.
“It was a big homer from Teo, and overall from the lineup we have been able to move guys over, score early and score with runners in scoring position,” Ohtani said. “So I think we had a pretty good flow to the game today.”
Edman followed two pitches later with a long ball down the right field line.
Reds manager Terry Francona said of Greene, “He didn’t locate, and he threw a couple of breaking balls — one to Teoscar and the next one to Edman — that wasn’t where he was trying to throw them. And when he didn’t locate, he really paid the price for it. … If you make a mistake, they can really make you pay.”
In the fifth, Hernandez added his second home run, this one off Connor Phillips for a 6-0 advantage. It was his second career multi-homer game in the postseason, as he accomplished the feat for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022.
Ohtani added his second homer in the sixth, also against Phillips, for his first postseason multi-homer game. Ohtani’s power display came after a 55-homer regular season that broke his own franchise record set last season.
De La Cruz got the Reds on the scoreboard in the seventh with an RBI grounder before scoring on a Tyler Stephenson double. The Dodgers got the runs right back on an error by Reds right fielder Noelvi Marte and an RBI single from Ben Rortvedt to go up 10-2.
The wayward Dodgers bullpen struggled in its first inning of the playoffs as Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer all pitched in the eighth, combining to allow three runs with four walks. The Reds’ Sal Stewart and De La Cruz each had a bases-loaded walk, and Spencer Steer had an RBI single.
“It’s a big deficit,” Francona said. “That’s a lot to ask, but they kept playing and that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
–By Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
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