PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Game 1 of the NLDS kept fans on the edge of their seats Saturday night. The Dodgers beat the Phillies 5-3.
The Phillies had a strong lead until the Dodgers flipped the scoreboard in the 7th inning. Matt Strahm allowed a three-run homerun to Teoscar Hernández.
Shohei Ohtani had admitted to nerves about playing in front of a crowd that voraciously tried to live up to its four hours of hell moniker -- he was jeered as he stepped on the field during warmups -- and he never found his footing at the plate.
Ohtani walked in the ninth.
Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez struck out Ohtani three times, including a called strike three in the fifth inning that sent a towel-waving crowd into delirium.
Sánchez was even fired up on that one and punched his fist in the air as he left the mound.
The Oh-4 became but a mere footnote — though Ohtani is the first player to strike out four times as a batter and strike out nine batters as a pitcher in the same postseason game — in an exhilarating comeback for a Dodgers team riding high after thumping the Reds in two games in the Wild Card Series.
The Phillies had only two hits after they scored three times in the third on J.T. Realmuto's two-run triple and Harrison Bader's sacrifice fly.
The Phillies have never won a postseason series after losing Game 1.
The Dodgers lead the series 1-0. Game 2 is Monday at 6:08 p.m.