{"id":184075,"date":"2025-10-02T03:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T03:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/184075\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T03:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T03:08:13","slug":"mlb-wild-card-games-shohei-ohtanis-two-home-runs-in-dodgers-win-over-reds-highlights-night-of-playoff-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/184075\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB Wild Card games: Shohei Ohtani\u2019s two home runs in Dodgers win over Reds highlights night of playoff action"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Shohei Ohtani<\/a> made a fast start to the MLB<\/a> postseason as he hit two home runs in the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>\u2019 10-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of their National League (NL) Wild Card Series.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ohtani opened his account with a lead-off home run in Tuesday\u2019s game, blasting Hunter Greene\u2019s 100.4 mph fastball to right field in the bottom of the first inning.\n <\/p>\n

\n It was the fastest pitch that the Japanese star has hit for a home run in his career, according to MLB.com, as well as the fourth-hardest hit postseason home run since Statcast began tracking in 2015 at 117.7 mph.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt was a really hard pitch to hit, but I felt like I reacted pretty well and I\u2019m glad that I was able to help the team score early,\u201d Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, told reporters after the game.\n <\/p>\n

\n The reigning NL MVP then followed it up in the sixth with a 454-foot, two-run homer to right-center field off reliever Connor Phillips, this one measuring at 113.5 mph. Per MLB, it was the longest postseason home run in Dodgers history.\n <\/p>\n

\n Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez also hit two home runs on the night and Tommy Edman added a solo shot in the third for the Dodgers, who are looking to become the first back-to-back World Series winners since the New York Yankees won three straight Commissioner\u2019s Trophies from 1998 to 2000.\n <\/p>\n

\"Ohtani<\/p>\n

\n The 31-year-old Ohtani hit a career-high 55 home runs in the regular season and, if his exploits with the bat weren\u2019t enough to get fans excited, could still pitch in the playoffs for the first time over the coming weeks.\n <\/p>\n

\n Ohtani didn\u2019t take the mound last year while recovering from elbow surgery and never made the playoffs while with the Los Angeles Angels. Speaking to reporters, however, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts thought that the chances of Ohtani pitching against the Reds were slim.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cNever say never, but I don\u2019t think so,\u201d Roberts told reporters when asked about the possibility of Ohtani pitching in this series. \u201cBut then again, I guess anything\u2019s possible.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n As for Ohtani, he said that he is \u201cprepared to pitch in any situation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The Dodgers and the Reds return to Dodger Stadium for Game 2 of their Wild Card Series on Wednesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Elsewhere, Tarik Skubal was instrumental in the Detroit Tigers gaining an early advantage in their American League (AL) Wild Card Series against the Cleveland Guardians with a 2-1 road win.\n <\/p>\n

\n Skubal, last season\u2019s AL Cy Young Award winner, tied a postseason record for the Tigers with 14 strikeouts, the highest in his career. The last Detroit player to replicate such a feat was Joe Coleman back in 1972.\n <\/p>\n

\n According to MLB.com, 11 of Skubal\u2019s 107 pitches were at least 100 mph, and all of those were faster than he managed during last year\u2019s postseason run when the Tigers beat the Houston Astros before losing to the Guardians in the AL Division Series.\n <\/p>\n

\"Tarik<\/p>\n

\n Now, thanks to Skubal\u2019s excellence on the mound, they are one win away from avenging that defeat.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cTarik set an incredible tone for us,\u201d Tigers manager AJ Hinch told reporters. \u201cHe\u2019s been incredible for us all season, but what a performance at the biggest moments on the biggest stage to get us in a great position to win the game.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe saw a little bit of everything out of him. He was efficient, he was dominant, he hit every pitch, he was up to 100 all the time. He didn\u2019t let any big moment rattle him.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In Wednesday\u2019s other games, the Chicago Cubs defeated the San Diego Padres 3-1, while the Boston Red Sox defeated bitter rivals the New York Yankees by the same scoreline.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani made a fast start to the MLB postseason as he hit two home runs in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-184075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}