by Cary Osborne
One ball that rolled to the wall in the second inning at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday could have been the difference in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
Instead, it was one ball that flew over the wall in the seventh inning.
Teoscar Hernández hit a two-out, three-run home run off Phillies reliever Matt Strahm to give the Dodgers their first lead of the game.
It held.
The Dodgers beat the Phillies 5–3 and now lead the best-of-five NLDS 1–0.
“It was a great moment,” said Shohei Ohtani, who went six innings on the mound and kept the game close to set up the Hernández homer.
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The Dodgers had a 29% win probability before the Hernández homer. They had an 80% win probability after it.
They covered the rest of the 20% with the combination of starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow (1 2/3 innings), Alex Vesia (one out) and Roki Sasaki (the final three outs in the ninth inning) for the final nine outs out of the bullpen.
Hernández has driven in multiple runs in each of his last four postseason games:
- Game 5 of the 2024 World Series: He hit the score-tying, two-run double in the fifth inning
• Game 1 of the 2025 Wild Card Series: He hit two home runs and drove in four runs
• Game 2 of the 2025 Wild Card Series: He hit a two-run double in the sixth inning
• Game 1 of the 2025 Division Series: He hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning
He has hit safely in nine straight posteason games for the Dodgers, dating back to Game 6 of the 2024 NL Championship Series.
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The Dodgers came back from a 3–0 deficit in this game to win it.
The comeback was sparked by the other Hernández — Kiké — whose two-out, two-run double off Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez in the sixth inning cut the lead to 3–2. Sánchez dominated coming into the sixth inning, piling up 10 swings and misses on his changeup to that point and allowing two hits.
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Teoscar Hernández stepped into the batter’s box in the seventh with runners on first and second after Strahm struck out Ohtani and induced a pop out off the bat of Mookie Betts.
In Hernández’s rearview was three strikeouts in the game and a triple by catcher J.T Realmuto in the second inning that rolled past him in right field. Two scored on the Realmuto second-inning triple — his first since Opening Day. Realmuto scored on a sacrifice fly.
Hernández said he was playing in on Realmuto and didn’t get a good angle to cut off the hard-hit ball.
“At the end of the day, anything that happened before a big moment like that (home run), it’s in the past,” Hernández said. “I just tried to put it in the trash and just focus on the things that I need to do in that at-bat, especially on defense and just trying to help my team.”
Said manager Dave Roberts: “With the three strikeouts and to come up with a huge hit, and to keep that out of his mind was huge for us.”
Ohtani and Sasaki bookended an outstanding Dodger pitching performance.
Ohtani retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced. The Phillies Big 3 (Turner, Schwarber, Harper) went 0-for-9 with 5 Ks against him.
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“I was a little nervous,” Ohtani said of his feelings before the game. “But once I was on the mound and on the field, that went away and it was really me focusing.”
Sasaki struck out two batters in the ninth inning and retired three of the four he faced.
Opponents are now 2-for-14 with eight strikeouts since he shifted to the bullpen on Sept. 24.
2025 NLDS: Teoscar Hernández takes his game-changing hit streak to the NLDS was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.