AFP | Los Angeles, United States
In his seventh season in the Major Leagues, Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani debuted 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.
