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Shohei Ohtani Shines in Postseason Pitching Debut as Dodgers Rally Past Phillies in NLDS Game 1
Mike Lipinski has been covering Philadelphia sports since 2005. Previous stops include Section 247 Sports, My MMA News, and more. He has been a part of the Sports Talk Philly team since 2019. He is the editor of Philadelphia Phillies content, co-editor for college football covering mainly the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and dabbles in all other sports. Follow him on social media channels -Twitter & Threads- @TheMikeLipinski
All posts by Mike LipinskiPublished04 Oct 2025
The Los Angeles Dodgers grabbed Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday, edging the Phillies 5–3 in a thrilling comeback victory at Citizens Bank Park. In his postseason pitching debut, Shohei Ohtani struck out nine over six innings, allowing three hits, a walk, and a hit batsman en route to a quality start.
Ohtani’s early jitters showed — the Phillies plated three runs in the second inning — but he settled in and held Philadelphia scoreless the rest of his outing.
The offensive heroics came in the seventh, when Teoscar Hernández launched a go-ahead three-run homer off reliever Matt Strahm, putting L.A. ahead for good. Afterward, Tyler Glasnow and Alex Vesia held the line before Roki Sasaki recorded the save, his first in postseason play.
Manager Dave Roberts praised Ohtani’s composure, saying the “compartmentalize” mindset was on full display. Historically, teams that win Game 1 in a best-of-five have advanced 72.4 percent of the time, and road winners do so in 73.9 percent of the Division Series under the current format.
