by Megan Garcia
It was the picture that was painted when Shohei Ohtani became a Dodger — exchanging his glove for a bat in between innings during October.
Ohtani’s power at the plate took center stage in last year’s postseason with three home runs. It also headlined one of the games in the Wild Card Series against the Reds with a two-homer night.
But Saturday was the day for his pitching to be in the spotlight.
His six innings and nine strikeouts against the Phillies set the tone for the Dodgers in their 5–3 win against the Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
Ohtani allowed three runs, all in the second inning. But he retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced in the game.
“He’s essentially two people in one night, in one game,” Roberts said. “To look at the at-bats he took tonight and how he struggled offensively, but to separate that and just be a pitcher and weather that three-run inning to then go out there … and keep us in the ball game, I just don’t know any human that can manage that. We continue to just witness history.”
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Ohtani became the third consecutive Dodger starter to record nine strikeouts and go at least six innings during the 2025 postseason. It also matched his season-high during the regular season when he struck out nine batters against the Reds on Aug. 27.
“I was a little nervous, just imagining myself out there on the mound,” Ohtani said. “But once I was on the mound and on the field, that went away. It was really just me focusing (on the game).”
Five of Ohtani’s punchouts were against the Phillies’ top three hitters in Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. They went 0-for-9 against him.
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Ohtani’s fastball flashed 100 mph four times early in the game. Of his 89 pitches against the Phillies, 15 were registered at 99 mph or higher.
The first three batters he faced in the second inning reached base — on a walk, a single and a triple. He allowed three runs.
Ohtani completed his night on the mound with six innings, three hits, three earned runs, one walk and nine strikeouts.
“For five innings tonight, he threw shutout baseball,” Dave Roberts said. “It was huge. It’s a quality start for him. He gets the win.”
The bullpen picked up the remaining three innings to keep the Phillies off the board.
Tyler Glasnow’s 1 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen marked his first relief appearance since July 26, 2018. It was also his Dodger postseason pitching debut.
After getting two outs in the eighth, Glasnow loaded the bases with the Dodgers leading 5–3. The situation called for Alex Vesia to get the Dodgers out of the inning. He induced an inning-ending fly out to center field from pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa — in for a righty vs. lefty matchup.
Then, in the ninth, Roki Sasaki continued to impress as a reliever.
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He needed 11 pitches to record his first postseason career save. Sasaki recorded a strikeout to lead off the inning and, after a one-out double, retired the next two batters on four pitches.
“I felt good with (Glasnow) in some capacity (tonight), given that he’s going to start a potential Game 4. I felt good about Vesia in some capacity tonight,” Roberts said. “I just felt comfortable with (Roki) right there. I could have gone to a couple of other guys in those spots, but knowing who I got, I felt good about those guys we were running out there.”
2025 NLDS: Shohei Ohtani’s October pitching debut brings a win was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.