LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández became the second pair of teammates to hit multiple home runs within the first 6 innings of a postseason game as the Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 10-5, in Game 1 of a National League Wild-Card Series Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers’ five home runs tied their postseason record, originally set in Game 3 of the 2020 National League Championship Series, then matched in Game 5 of the 2021 National League Championship Series.
Ohtani hit a 2-1 four-seam fastball 375 feet over the right field fence leading off the bottom of the first and a 1-1 sweeper 454 feet over the center field fence for a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth that gave the Dodgers an 8-0 lead.
Ohtanti’s second home run was the longest by a Dodger in the postseason during the Statcast Era, which began in 2015, according to Major League Baseball.
Hernandez hit a 1-0 four-seam fastball 390 feet for a three-run home run in the third and 0-2 four-seam fastball 390 feet over the right center field fence for a solo homer in the fifth.
The other pair of teammates to hit multiple home runs within the first six innings of a postseason game were Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, according to Greg Harvey, a brand ambassador with Sports Reference, which operates detailed historical websites on professional baseball, football, basketball hockey and soccer.
Tommy Edman followed Hernandez’s first home run by hitting a four-seam fastball 388 feet over the right field fence to increase the Dodgers’ lead to 5-0 in front of a crowd announced at 50,555.
Left-hander Blake Snell allowed one hit over the first six innings. The Reds combined singles by Austin Hays and Spencer Steer, Elly De La Cruz’s RBI force out and Tyler Stephenson’s double off Snell for two runs in the seventh.
Alex Call and Ben Rortvedt had two-out RBI singles for the Dodgers in their half of the seventh.
Sal Stewart walked to force in run for Cincinnati in its half of the eighth. Spencer Steer followed by with an RBI single, prompting Dodger manager Dave Roberts to replace reliever Edgardo Henriquez with Jack Dreyer.
Dreyer walked De La Cruz, the first batter he faced, on a full-count fastball to force in the third run of the inning.
Snell (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits over seven innings, striking out nine and walking one.
Hunter Greene (0-1) was charged with the loss, allowing five runs and six hits, including three home runs, in three innings. Greene is a 2017 graduate of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks.
The Dodgers out-hit Cincinnati, 15-7, with Hernández getting three hits and Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Kiké Hernandez two each.
Steer and Matt McLain, the No. 9 hitter in the Reds’ lineup, both had two hits.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series will be played Wednesday, also at Dodger Stadium. McLain is an alumnus of UCLA and Beckman High School in Irvine.
Teams winning Game 1 of a Wild-Card Series have gone on to win the series 18 of the 20 times under the current format.
Recent Comments