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Update with Dodgers and Yankees wins in the last games on Saturday
In his seventh season in the Major Leagues, Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani made his debut in a playoff game on Saturday with a huge three-run home run in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 7-5 victory over the San Diego Padres.
The Los Angeles team thus advanced 1-0 at the start of the ‘Las Mayores’ division series, which is played in the best of five games.
In the other American League series, the New York Mets took the lead with a 6-2 victory at the Philadelphia Phillies’ field.
In the National League, the New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-5 at home and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-0.
After 860 games and 3,602 plate appearances in the Major Leagues, Shohei Ohtani did not disappoint in his long-awaited postseason debut in the Dodgers uniform, the franchise he joined after six seasons with the Angels.
The Dodgers won the bid, offering a contract worth $700 million for a decade, and Ohtani did not disappoint either in the regular season, in which he is the favorite to win his third MVP award, or at the start. of his playoff career.
In just his second at-bat, Ohtani lifted the Dodgers Stadium crowd by hitting a 350-foot homer that drove in runs from Will Smith and Gavin Lux in the second inning.
The Japanese’s missile tied the score in a game that had already seen a two-run home run by Manny Machado for his Californian rival.
The visitors once again took a two-run lead thanks to a double by Xander Bogaerts but Dominican Teoscar Hernández turned it around again with a double that drove in runs from Ohtani and Mookie Betts.
A run by Will Smith in the fifth inning sealed the first victory for the Dodgers, who will host the next episode of the series on Sunday.
Saturday’s day brought an unusual double victory for the two New York teams, the Yankees and the Mets.
At Yankee Stadium, the ‘Bronx Bombers’ also needed several comebacks to knock down the Royals, starting with a two-run homer by Venezuelan Gleyber Torres.
The hero of the New Yorkers this time was not any of their stars, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, but the Mexican Alex Verdugo, who gave the locals the victory with a single in the seventh inning.
Also in the American League, the Guardians crushed the Tigers 7-0, bringing them down to earth after their unexpected sweep of the Houston Astros in the wild card round.
The local offense was an avalanche in a first inning of five runs that was unleashed by its figure José Ramírez.
The Dominican missed first on a selection play so that Steven Kwan opened the score for the Guardians.
After David Fry scored the second score, it was Ramírez’s turn to go through the register taking advantage of a three-run home run by Lane Thomas.
The locals expanded the lead in the seventh inning with a double by Fry to left field that drove in the runs of Kwan and the Dominican Jhonkensy Noel.
Two days after earning the ticket against Milwaukee, the Mets once again survived at the last moment to the frustration of the 45,000 Phillies fans.
The locals opened the score with a home run by Kyle Schwarber in the first inning and the starter, Zack Wheeler, maintained the lead for seven tough innings, in which he only gave up one hit, with four walks and nine strikeouts.
But the Mets took perfect advantage of the entry of the Phillies relievers in the eighth inning.
Mark Vientos, Brandon Nimmo and JD Martínez hit singles and Pete Alonso, the hero in Milwaukee with a home run in the ninth inning, hit a sacrifice fly for the visitors to turn the score around.
gbv/gfe
