Shohei Ohtani pitched in a playoff game for the very first time on Saturday night. Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

Batters try all sorts to get themselves right when they’re having a bad day at the plate.

Some go and splash some water on their face. Others offer up a prayer.

Shohei Ohtani found a simple solution in his playoff pitching debut on Saturday night: why not just go and strike out nine from the mound?

“It’s really never been done, certainly at this level,” Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his star player’s two-way performance against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of their NLDS matchup. “I use the word compartmentalize a lot, this epitomizes compartmentalizing. He’s essentially two people in one game.

“To look at the at-bats he took tonight and how he s

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