Teoscar Hernández home run powers Dodgers to NLDS Game 1 win over Phillies

PHILADELPHIA — Want the unexpected?

What about Shohei Ohtani nearly self-destructing in the second inning of his first postseason start as a pitcher?

Praying for late-game heroics?

What about Teoscar Hernández lofting a three-run homer over the wall in right-center field to silence the notoriously hostile crowd at Citizens Bank Park?

Searching for promise?

Dodgers

Dodgers show their resiliency again in NLDS Game 1 comeback win over Phillies

Shohei Ohtani puts up quality innings on the mound, and Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández power the Dodgers to a 5-3 win over the Phillies in Game 1.

Oct. 4, 2025

⚾ Dodgers 5, Phillies 3 — FINAL

Teoscar Hernández hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the seventh inning and Kiké Hernández hit a two-run double in the sixth to help lift the Dodgers to a series-opening win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday.

Shohei Ohtani gave up three hits and three runs while striking out nine and yielding one walk over six innings on the mound. Alex Vesia escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth.

Game 2 of the series will be Monday at 3:08 p.m. PDT.

Top of the ninth: Facing Phillies reliever Jhoan Duran, Andy Pages and Will Smith struck out. Shohei Ohtani drew a walk before Mookie Betts grounded out to third.

Bottom of the ninth: Roki Sasaki took the mound for the Dodgers and struck out J.T. Realmuto on four pitches.

Max Kepler then doubled on a line drive down the right-field line. Nick Castellanos grounded out to second base, moving Kepler to third. Bryson Stott popped out to Max Muncy in foul territory behind third base to end the game.

⚾ Dodgers 5, Phillies 3 — Through eight innings

Top of the eighth: The Dodgers go down in order with Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering striking out Tommy Edman and Max Muncy in the process.

Bottom of the eighth: Tyler Glasnow struck out Bryson Stott before walking Trea Turner. Glasnow then struck out Kyle Schwarber.

Bryce Harper hit a two-out, two-strike single to right field to move the speedy Turner to third base.

Glasnow walked Alec Bohm to load the bases and prompt Dave Roberts to put Alex Vesia on the mound.

Vesia got pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa to fly out to center field to escape the bases-loaded jam.

⚾ Dodgers 5, Phillies 3 — Through seven innings

Top of the seventh: Andy Pages hit a two-strike single to left field. Phillies reliever David Robertson then hit Will Smith with a pitch, prompting Philadelphia to put Matt Strahm on the mound.

Strahm struck out Shohei Ohtani, who has been caught looking on three of his fourth strikeouts tonight. Mookie Betts popped out to third base for the second out.

Teoscar Hernández then hit a three-run home run to right-center field to give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead.

Freddie Freeman popped out to third to close the frame.

Bottom of the seventh: Tyler Glasnow took over on the mound for Ohtani. J.T. Realmuto reached first on what was ruled as a throwing error by Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy. Max Kepler flied out to left field.

Phillies pinch-hitter Nick Castellanos grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

⚾ Phillies 3, Dodgers 2 — Through six innings

Top of the sixth: Mookie Betts grounded out and Teoscar Hernández struck out before Freddie Freeman drew a walk off Cristopher Sánchez.

Tommy Edman followed with a liner into right field. Kiké Hernández then hit a two-run double down the left-field line to make it a one-run game.

The hit ended Sanchez’s night. David Robertson took over in relief and got pinch-hitter Max Muncy to ground out softly to the mound, ending the inning.

Bottom of the sixth: Shohei Ohtani struck out Bryce Harper. Alec Bohm then flied out to shallow right before Brandon Marsh struck out.

Through six innings and 89 pitches, Ohtani has given up three hits and three runs while striking out nine and walking one.

⚾ Phillies 3, Dodgers 0 — Through five innings

Top of the fifth: Alex Call led with a single to third. Harrison Bader then made a diving catch in center field on a flare off the bat of Andy Pages. Will Smith then struck out after he replaced Ben Rortvedt as a pinch-hitter for his first plate appearance in 25 days.

Cristopher Sánchez then struck out Shohei Ohtani for the third time in the game to end the inning.

Bottom of the fifth: Ohtani struck out Max Kepler before hitting Harrison Bader with a pitch. Bryson Stott then singled on a liner to center. Trea Turner lined out to Mookie Betts a short before Kyle Schwarber struck out.

Ohtani has given up three hits, three runs (earned), has struck out seven and walked one through five innings.

⚾ Phillies 3, Dodgers 0 — Through four innings

Top of the fourth: Freddie Freeman, Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández each grounded out. Cristopher Sánchez has held the Dodgers to one hit through four innings.

Bottom of the fourth: Alec Bohm grounded out before Shohei Ohtani struck out Brandon Marsh. J.T. Realmuto grounded out to third.

⚾ Phillies 3, Dodgers 0 — Through three innings

Top of the third: Cristopher Sanchez hit Ben Rortvedt with a pitch to leadoff the inning. Shohei Ohtani then struck out for the second time in the game.

Mookie Betts hit a grounder to short that forced Rortvedt at second base. Teoscar Hernández struck out to cap the frame.

Bottom of the third: Trea Turner grounded out to third before Ohtani struck out Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.

⚾ Phillies 3, Dodgers 0 — Through second inning

Top of the second: Freddie Freeman led with a single to left before Tommy Edman grounded into a force out at second that got Freeman.

Kiké Hernández followed with a ground out to third before Cristopher Sánchez walked Alex Call. Andy Pages struck out, stranding runners on second and first.

Bottom of the second: Alec Bohm draws a leadoff walk before Brandon Marsh singles up the middle off Ohtani for the Phillies’ first hit. J.T. Realmuto then drove the ball into the right-center field gap that rolled past Teoscar Hernández to the wall, scoring Bohm and Marsh.

After Max Kepler grounded out to third, Harrison Bader hit a sacrifice fly to deep left field to score Realmuto and give the Phillies a 3-0 lead.

Ohtani struck out Bryson Stott to end the inning.

⚾ Dodgers 0, Phillies 0 — Through first inning

Top of the first: Philadelphia starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez struck out Shohei Ohtani on three pitches. Mookie Betts grounded out to third base before Sánchez struck out Teoscar Hernández for the third out.

Bottom of the first: Ohtani, in his first postseason start, struck out National League batting champion and former Dodger Trea Turner. Kyle Schwarber flied out to right field. Bryce Harper grounded out softly to Ohtani to end the inning.

All due respect to the Cincinnati Reds.

But the Dodgers’ first real test of their World Series title defense is about to begin this weekend.

After advancing past the plucky Reds and their 83-win roster in a best-of-three wild card series this week, the Dodgers will now face a true powerhouse in the best-of-five National League Division Series, matched up against a Philadelphia Phillies team facing unfinished business in the postseason.

For years, the Phillies have been building toward contention. In each of the last four years, they’ve reached the playoffs while increasing their regular-season win total.

The Dodgers aren’t ready to call Roki Sasaki their closer, but who are they kidding?

Sasaki is their closer.

When the 23-year-old rookie from the Japanese countryside stepped onto the October stage on Wednesday night, he revealed himself to be more than the team’s best late-inning option.

He showed he was special.

He was Reggie-Bush-exploding-through-the-Fresno-State-defense special.

“You’re in this now! You’ve got a lot of work to do!”

The gravelly voice was unmistakably Kirk Gibson. The object of his growl was a journalist who spent two years battling him on the Dodgers beat.

Only this time, Gibby wasn’t yelling at me. This time, he was cheering for me.

For Kiké Hernández, the regular season is little more than a six-month warm-up. Real baseball is played when the evening air turns crisp and the leaves begin to change.

And when summer turns to fall few players have stepped up bigger than Hernández, who had two hits, scored two runs and drove in another Wednesday, spurring a Dodger comeback that ended in an 8-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds and a sweep of their National League wild-card series.

That sends the team on to the best-of-five division series with the Phillies, which begins Saturday in Philadelphia.

Here are the starting lineups for Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Dodgers and Phillies:

Now comes the hard part.

The Cincinnati Reds are shreds of what’s next.

The wild-card series is a joker compared to the waiting full house.

The Dodgers easily swept the best-of-three duel with the overmatched Reds on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium with a frolicking 8-4 victory … just in time to uneasily hike into the home of heated hardball.

PHILADELPHIA — When Clayton Kershaw was left off the Dodgers’ roster for the best-of-three wild-card round against the Cincinnati Reds, it marked the first time since his 2008 rookie season that he didn’t pitch in one of the team’s playoff series when healthy.

But on Saturday, ahead of Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers decided to add Kershaw back in the mix, ensuring he will likely get the chance to take the mound at least one more time before entering retirement this offseason.

PHILADELPHIA — The last time Shohei Ohtani took the mound against the Philadelphia Phillies, it was the first time all year he looked like a true starting pitcher again.

Ohtani, of course, had pitched plenty before that Sept. 16 game at Dodger Stadium, when he spun five no-hit innings against a Phillies team on the verge of a National League East division title. Up to that point, the two-way star had been making starts for the previous three months in his return from a second career Tommy John surgery.

During that stretch, however, Ohtani was under strict limitations. He pitched only one inning in his first two outings, two innings in the pair after that, and continued a slow, gradual buildup over the ensuing weeks. For many of those early starts, the right-hander didn’t even use his full arsenal of pitches, restricting himself to mostly fastballs and sweepers as he tried to hone in on his velocity and sharpen his rusty command.

The “theater of October,” as Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman often describes playoff baseball, descended upon Chavez Ravine for Game 2 of the National League wild-card series Wednesday night.

There was dramatic adversity early, after Teoscar Hernández’s consequential dropped ball in the first inning created a sudden deficit.

There was climactic tension late, as the Dodgers’ bullpen grinded through more eighth-inning trouble that threatened to squander another comfortable lead.

The Dodgers open their National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday at 3:38 p.m. PDT.

The game will be televised on TBS, TruTV and HBO Max. Radio broadcasts in the Los Angeles area will be on 570 AM and 1220 AM (Español).

Here are the latest betting odds for Game 1 of the NLDS:

Here’s the TV schedule for the rest of the best-of-five series:

Game 2: Monday, 3:08 p.m. at Philadelphia | TBS, HBO Max

Game 3: Wednesday, 6:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | TBS, HBO Max

*Game 4: Thursday, 3:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | TBS, HBO Max

*Game 5: Oct. 11, 5:08 p.m. at Philadelphia | TBS, HBO Max

* if necessary