Shohei Ohtani’s first career postseason pitching start went well, overcoming a second-inning blip to pitch six innings, earning the win as the Dodgers took Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday over the Phillies.
He also struck out nine, joining Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to give the Dodgers three consecutive postseason starts with at least nine strikeouts for the first time in franchise history, a body of work that spanes 295 games.
The only other time in franchise history the Dodgers got even eight strikeouts three postseason starts in a row came five years ago at the start of the 2020 postseason. Walker Buehler struck out eight in Game 1 of the wild card round, Clayton Kershaw struck out 13 in Game 2, then Buehler started the NLDS with another eight strikeouts.
Snell, Yamamoto, and