Shohei Ohtani's three-run home run helps Dodgers past Padres in Game 1 of NLDS

The Redemption Tour began just as the Dodgers envisioned it.

With a momentary home run swing from Shohei Ohtani.

One inning into their postseason opener Saturday night, the Dodgers had nightmare flashbacks to this time last year, facing yet another early deficit after another poor performance from their Game 1 starting pitcher.

The 53,028 towel-waving fans at Dodger Stadium were silenced. In the visiting dugout, the San Diego Padres were riding a sudden burst of momentum.

But then, in the kind of sequence that has eluded the Dodgers during their postseason failures in recent years, Ohtani came to the plate and, in the first playoff game of his career, immediately wiped the slate clean.

“We didn't expect anything less,” outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said. “He's the guy who's going to guide us through all of this.”

Indeed, in the Dodgers' 7-5 win in the opening game of this year's National League Division Series, Ohtani's three-run homer in the second inning erased the club's early three-run deficit.

It restored faith in the Dodgers' dugout. This re-energized the sold-out crowd, confused around them.

And, entering Game 2 of the best-of-five series Sunday night at Chavez Ravine, it exorcised some old October demons that the Dodgers started to crawl back into.

“He injected an absolute lightning bolt into the stadium,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “From then on it was, 'OK, we got it. It's not like last year.'

Reversing the failures of past postseasons is, of course, the defining theme of this year's Dodgers postseason, who entered Saturday night aiming to make amends for their recent playoff history.

Two years ago, an upset NLDS elimination at the hands of these same Padres renewed questions about the Dodgers' inability to translate regular-season dominance into playoff success.

Those frustrations were compounded last season when they were dumped by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“The kind of sour taste you have when you leave the postseason early, our guys are tired of it,” manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week. “A lot of people definitely doubted us, and so I think our guys took it. “

That didn't stop Saturday's game from starting with another disastrous first inning, as sixth-place contender Clayton Kershaw succumbed to an injury in Arizona last year.

In his MLB playoff debut, Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out five in three innings. The first three of them came in an ugly top of the first, when the $325 million offseason signing (whom Roberts believed could tip his pitches) gave up a leadoff single to Luis Arez, walking Fernando Tatis Jr. in the at-bat. It also included a passed ball and wild pitch, then allowed Manny Machado to deliver a potential back-breaker, hooking a splitter that Machado launched into left for a two-run homer and a 3-0 Padres lead.

“They jumped on us, punched us in the face, whatever you want to say,” catcher Will Smith said. “But we knew we weren't out of it.”

Ohtani doesn't lead their lineup now.

After Smith led off the second inning with a walk, and Gavin Lux followed with a single, the Padres had no choice but to pitch Ohtani when he came to the plate with two outs against starter Dylan Seaz.

Seaz tried to start the bat cautiously, throwing the first two pitches out of the zone before Ohtani fouled off a fastball off his knee and called time. When Ohtani dug out again, Seaz challenged him with an advanced hitter, which induced a flyout in Ohtani's first at-bat.

This time, however, the soon-to-be three-time MVP was ready.

With a line-drive rocket that traveled 372 feet at about 112 mph, Ohtani easily cleared the fence in front of the right-field pavilion, tying the score at 3-3 with a game-changing swing.

“It got the momentum back for us,” Roberts said. “And just gave us life.”

The Dodgers didn't take their first lead until the fourth inning, Hernandez's two-run single leading off a three-run rally that erased a 5-3 deficit.

They were able to turn the game over to the bullpen from there, getting six shutout innings of relief while adding an insurance run after a careless Machado throwing error in the fifth.

But without Ohtani's early outburst, there may not be any mid-game plot twists.

After consecutive postseasons in which the Dodgers failed to come back from similar playoff deficits, their $700 million offseason signing ensured Saturday would be different.

Teoscar Hernandez runs to first base after hitting a two-run single in the fourth inning for the Dodgers on Saturday.

(Gina Ferrazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“I could really feel the intensity of the stadium before the game started,” Ohtnai said of his MLB playoff debut, via interpreter Will Ireton. “I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Ohtani wasn't the only source of inspiration behind the Dodgers' victory.

Freddie Freeman not only played through a badly sprained ankle — one that even until Saturday morning he thought would cause him to miss the game — but delivered two hits and a surprising stolen base.

“It definitely sends a message that, 'Hey, it doesn't matter what your name is, it doesn't matter who you are, you're ready to do whatever it takes,'” Muncie said of watching Freeman. “It was big. To see Freddie out there for us, to understand how bad he was hurting is hard to put into words.”

The bullpen's performance also provided a lift after Yamamoto's first outing, culminating in a five-out, 39-pitch save from right-hander Blake Treinen that ended with Machado's strikeout on a swing-and-miss sweeper.

“To compete really speaks to the character of this team,” Roberts said. “We have to fight. And that's what we did tonight.”

There were other examples of resilience, the kind the Dodgers' postseason runs have often lost in the past.

A three-run fourth inning rally that included Hernandez's go-ahead two-run single ? It was sparked by a bunt single by Tommy Edman, and included a broken-bat hit by Ohtani, who finished the night two for five with three RBIs and two runs scored.

Treinen's high-wire save in which he stranded five total baserunners? It was aided by an over-the-shoulder catch from shortstop Miguel Rojas in the eighth and a diving snag by Lux at ninth base.

“I think it speaks volumes for this team,” Rojas said. “The fire and fight on this team is unbelievable.

To truly correct their annual October woes and add another World Series title to their pandemic-shortened 2020 championship, the Dodgers will need more consistent performances going forward — especially from their starting rotation, which returns to Jack Flaherty for Game 2 on Sunday. will go

But the biggest question entering this postseason was whether a team that folded so easily last season could muster the determination and intensity to be a legitimate contender this year.

After the first inning Saturday, the script seemed ominously familiar.

But then, Ohtani turned it around, making sure this month's potential redemption tour began with a character-defining victory.

“Our guys were relentless all night,” Roberts said. “It's hard not to panic when you're behind, especially in a postseason game. But we did a really good job of trying to take it one at-bat at a time.”