Dodgers show their might in Game 1, move one win from NLDS matchup with Phillies
If the Dodgers are going to advance and look like that, the Phillies will have their work cut out for them.
Los Angeles looked like the reigning World Series champions in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Reds on Tuesday night. They had 15 hits, six of them in three innings against superb Reds starter Hunter Greene. They hit five homers, including four from two players.
One of those two was Shohei Ohtani, who started the postseason by doing Shohei Ohtani stuff: a 117.7-mph leadoff homer on a 100.4-mph fastball from Greene, then a 454-foot blast on a Connor Phillips sweeper. It was, well, the kind of thing that might make Phillies fans root extra hard for the Reds on Wednesday and Thursday.
So was Blake Snell’s outing. He scattered four hits and two runs across seven innings with nine strikeouts, picking up where he left off after an excellent conclusion to the regular season. Snell pitched to a 0.47 ERA in his final three outings, two of which came against top-five offenses (by OPS) in the Diamondbacks and … Phillies.
Snell fired seven shutout innings against the Phillies in L.A. on Sept. 17, with two hits and 12 strikeouts to his line. He’d likely be the Dodgers’ Game 2 starter in the NLDS. If the Dodgers sweep the Wild Card Series, their Game 1 starter would be Ohtani, who held the Phillies hitless in five innings that week.
So, yes — the Dodgers of the 2025 regular season were not the Dodgers of the 2024 regular season or postseason. They are still quite good. It would be a thrilling NLDS, and one that might feel like it takes longer than the week it actually would.
Of course, maybe the Reds at least force a Game 3 and throw off the Dodgers’ pitching plans — or even come all the way back and win the series. Tuesday didn’t make it seem too promising.