Dodgers hit 5 home runs and Blake Snell shines in Game 1 win over Reds

This isn’t a series, it’s calisthenics.

The Dodgers shouldn’t be here battling baseball’s junior varsity, and they know it, and they’re intent on pounding and pitching their way out of this embarrassing situation as quickly as possible.

Wild-card round? The defending champions are nobody’s wild card.

The Cincinnati Reds? Human byes.

October came a day early to Chavez Ravine on Tuesday and the shouldn’t-be-here Dodgers welcomed it with their annoyance, tying a club postseason record with five homers and dismantling the Reds 10-5 in the opener of a three-game wild-card series that should be mercifully completed by midweek.

⚾ Dodgers 10, Reds 5 — FINAL

Top of the ninth: Blake Treinen came on relief and struck out Matt McLain and TJ Friedl. Former Dodger Gaxin Lux singled off the wrist of a diving Justin Dean in center field. Miguel Andujar grounded out to third base to end the game.

The Dodgers lead the best-of-three series 1-0, with Game 2 on Wednesday at 6:08 p.m. PDT.

Teoscar Hernández and Shohei Ohtani each hit two home runs. Tommy Edman also homered.

Blake Snell gave up two earned runs and four hits while striking out nine over seven innings.

⚾ Dodgers 10, Reds 5 — End of the eighth

Top of the eighth: Matt McLain singled to left off Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia. Tj Friedl grounded out to first, and McLain beat Freddie Freeman’s double-play throw to second base.

Vesia walked Noelvi Marte, prompting Dave Roberts to summon Edgardo Henriquez from the bullpen.

Henriquez walked Miguel Andujar to load the bases and then walked Sal Stewart to force in McLain to make in 10-3 Dodgers.

Cincinnati’s Spencer Steer hit a RBI single up the middle to make it 10-4 Dodgers.

Dodgers reliever Jack Dreyer heads to dugout after the final out of the eighth inning.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Jack Dreyer entered as the third Dodgers reliever of the inning and he walked Elly De La Cruz to force in another run and make it 10-5 Dodgers.

It took Dreyer 11 pitches to strike out Tyler Stephenson for the inning’s second out. Ke’Bryan Hayes popped out to Freddie Freeman in what was a 59-pitch inning.

Bottom of the eighth: Facing Reds reliever Graham Ashcraft, Mookie Betts singled to center field for his second hit of the game. Freddie Freeman followed with a single to right field.

Max Muncy popped out behind first base and Teoscar Hernández flied out to right. Ashcraft hit Miguel Rojas with a pitch to load the bases for Andy Pages, who grounded into a force out at second base.

⚾ Dodgers 10, Reds 2 — End of the seventh inning

Top of the seventh: Miguel Andujar grounded out before Austin Hays singled to left field. Spencer Steer followed with a single to right field for the Reds’ third hit.

Elly De La Cruz grounded to short for a force out at second, but he managed to beat Miguel Rojas’ double-play throw to first, allowing Hays to score (the on-field call at first base was confirmed on review).

The speedy De La Cruz scored on the next at-bat when Tyler Stephenson doubled off Blake Snell into the right-field corner. The hit prompted the Dodgers to get Alex Vesia throwing in the bullpen.

Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded out to second to end the inning.

Snell has allowed four hits, two earned runs, struck out nine and walked one over 91 pitches.

Bottom of the seventh: Teoscar Hernández flied out to left field. Rojas then singled to right off Reds reliever Brent Suter. Andy Pages flied out to left field.

Alex Call, batting for Kiké Hernández, singled to shallow right. An errant throw by right fielder Noelvi Marte in an attempt to get Rojas out at third base goes into the Dodgers’ dugout, allowing Rojas to score.

Ben Rortvedt follows with a line drive to left to score Call and make it 10-2 Dodgers.

Suter got Shohei Ohtani on a called third strike to end the inning.

⚾ Dodgers 8, Reds 0 — End of the sixth inning

Top of the sixth: Blake Snell struck out Matt McLain before TJ Friedl grounded out to Snell.

Snell then struck out Noelvi Marte on three pitches to end the frame. Snell has nine strikeouts over 70 pitches.

Bottom of the sixth: Andy Pages flied out to left field before Kiké Hernández singled to right off Connor Phillips. Ben Rortvedt then struck out.

Shohei Ohtani followed with a two-run, 454-foot home run deep into the right-field pavilion to give the Dodgers an 8-0 lead. It was his second home run of the game and the fifth of the night for the Dodgers.

Phillips’ night ended after he walked Mookie Betts, with Brent Suter taking over on the mound for the Reds.

Freddie Freeman hit a ground-rule double over the center field wall before Max Muncy took a called third strike to end the inning.

⚾ Dodgers 6, Reds 0 — End of the fifth inning

Top of the fifth: Blake Snell struck out Elly De La Cruz. Tyler Stephenson flied out to center field and Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded out to second base.

Bottom of the fifth: Freddie Freeman lined out to first before Reds reliever Scott Barlow struck out Max Muncy.

Connor Phillips relieved Barlow and promptly gave up a home run to Teoscar Hernández — his second home run of the game.

Phillips struck out Tommy Edman to end the inning.

⚾ Dodgers 5, Reds 0 — End of the fourth inning

Top of the fourth: Blake Snell struck out Miguel Andujar and Austin Hays. Spencer Steer grounded out to Snell to end the inning. Snell has six strikeouts and has given up one hit on 50 pitches.

Bottom of the fourth: Scott Barlow took over for Reds starter and L.A. native Hunter Greene, who gave up six hits, five earned runs, struck out four and walked two over three innings.

Barlow struck out Ben Rortvedt, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts.

⚾ Dodgers 5, Reds 0 — End of the third inning

Bottom of the third: Mookie Betts flied out to deep center field before Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy drew walks, prompting Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson to visit Hunter Greene on the mound.

Greene threw a wild pitch on his next pitch before Teoscar Hernández hit a three-run home run off a hanging slider into the left-field pavilion.

Tommy Edman immediately followed with a home run to the right-field corner to give the Dodgers a 5-0 lead.

Andy Pages grounded out and Kiké Hernández took a called third strike to end the inning.

⚾ Dodgers 1, Reds 0 — Third inning

Top of the third: Blake Snell struck out Tyler Stephenson, and Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded out to short.

No. 9 hitter Matt McLain then doubled down the left-field line past a diving Max Muncy for the Reds’ first hit. Snell walked TJ Friedl before striking out Noelvi Marte to end the inning. Snell has four strikeouts so far.

⚾ Dodgers 1, Reds 0 — End of second inning

Top of the second: Austin Hays grounded out, Spencer Steer flied out to left and Elly De La Cruz struck out in another 1-2-3 inning for Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell.

Bottom of the second: Andy Pages grounded out to short. Kiké Hernández then dropped a single to shallow center field. Ben Rortvedt put down a sacrifice bunt to move Pages to second.

Shohei Ohtani took a called third strike from Hunter Greene to end the inning.

⚾ Dodgers 1, Reds 0 — End of the first inning

Bottom of the first: Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run to right field off Cincinnati starting pitcher Hunter Greene to give the Dodgers an early lead.

Ohtani’s homer was an absolute laser. It had a 117.7-mph exit velocity and traveled 375 feet into the right-field pavilion.

Mookie Betts followed with a sharp single to left field. Freddie Freeman flied out to left field. Green struck out Max Muncy before Teoscar Hernández singled to left. Tommy Edman struck out to leave Betts and Hernández on first and second.

⚾ Reds 0, Dodgers 0 — First inning

Top of the first inning: Dodgers starter Blake Snell struck out TJ Friedl before Noelvi Marte flied out to left field and Miguel Andujar flied out to shallow center in a seven-pitch frame.

And there was a Joe Kelly sighting at Dodger Stadium just before the game. The former Dodgers reliever threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Former Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly acknowledges the crowd before throwing the ceremonial first pitch Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani celebrates after a fly out by the Phillies’ Max Kepler on Sept. 16.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

During the final two months of the regular season, the Dodgers repeatedly hinted at the possibility of using Shohei Ohtani at the bullpen if needed during the playoffs.

So, could the two-way star — who is lined up to start in Game 3 if this wild card series gets there — be used in relief during one of the first two games?

“I don’t think so,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Never say never, but I don’t think so. But, again, I guess anything’s possible.”

The Dodgers’ need to potentially use Ohtani in relief had lessened in recent days, thanks to improvements from the rest of the team’s previously struggling relief corps, the return of Roki Sasaki from a shoulder injury, and the reallocation of starting pitchers Emmet Sheehan and Tyler Glasnow to the bullpen — at least for this series.

“We still have a lot of confidence in a lot of those arms,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “Now it’s about figuring out the right game opportunity, score, situations to get them in and kind of keep building on that.”

Who will pitch in the biggest relief spots this week remains an open question. Alex Vesia has been the Dodgers’ best left-hander, and could be used as a fireman if a late-inning jam arises. Sheehan and Glasnow could serve in short-burst or multi-inning roles to help close out potential wins, as well. Sasaki also figures to be a key piece of the Dodgers’ high-leverage plans, after reeling off a couple impressive scoreless relief outings during the final week of the season.

How much the Dodgers trust Blake Treinen and Tanner Scott, big-name relievers who had dismal regular seasons, is much more uncertain. The team’s hope is that its starting rotation will pitch deep into games, and leave only a handful of innings for the bullpen to pick up.

PHOENIX — Dave Roberts often refers to his bullpen hierarchy as something of a “trust tree,” with branches of relievers he can trust in leverage spots.

Lately, however, it’s been more like a shriveled-up houseplant. Barren, depleted and long-shunned from the sun.

Entering Wednesday, the Dodgers’ 4.33 bullpen ERA ranked 21st in the majors. Since the start of September, that number had climbed to a stunning 5.69 mark. Closer Tanner Scott has converted less than one-third of his save opportunities, his ERA rising to 4.91 after his latest meltdown on Tuesday. Top right-hander Blake Treinen had been the losing pitcher in each of the Dodgers’ five defeats before that, sending his ERA to a career-worst 5.55. And plenty of other factors — from injuries to underperformance to the inability of the front office to bolster the group at the trade deadline — have contributed to the late-game incompetence that has threatened to derail the Dodgers’ season.

In the hours leading up to the Dodgers’ Sept. 10 game against the Colorado Rockies, Dodgers catcher Ben Rortvedt was taking a nap.

After the previous week, it was a well-deserved rest.

A 28-year-old journeyman backstop who’d been traded from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Dodgers at the deadline, Rortvedt was called up from the minors and thrust into emergency duty in the middle of a tight division race. In the span of three days from Sept. 3-5, both Will Smith and Dalton Rushing had been injured. And in Rortvedt’s first three starts with the Dodgers after that, he’d twice helped take a no-hitter into the ninth while offering unexpected contributions with his bat.

As Dodgers players packed in for Clayton Kershaw’s retirement news conference last Thursday, Freddie Freeman waved the Kershaw family to a row of seats at the front of the room.

He wanted Kershaw’s wife, Ellen, and their four kids in front of the pitcher right when he sat down at the dais at Dodger Stadium.

How else, Freeman joked, could they get the future Hall of Famer to cry?

Turned out, in a 14-minute address announcing his retirement from baseball at the end of this season, Kershaw did get choked up from behind the mic. But, it happened first when he addressed his teammates. They, he told him, were who he was going to miss most.

PHOENIX — They didn’t dogpile on the mound. They were animated but relatively reserved in an abbreviated clubhouse champagne shower.

It was no doubt a celebratory moment for the Dodgers, capturing their 12th division title in the last 13 years with an 8-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

But it was accompanied by moments of internal reflection, as well. About a regular season that has posed challenges at every turn. About a six-month slog in which frustration and adversity were around every corner.

“This has been a tough year,” third baseman Max Muncy said.

At this time last year, the pressure was palpable.

Up until last October, the Dodgers had a reputation as postseason failures.

It wasn’t an unwarranted distinction. In each of the previous two seasons, the team had been upset in the National League Division Series by lesser opponents in the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks. The fall before that, their title defense flamed out against the underdog Atlanta Braves in the NL Championship Series. Yes, they won a World Series in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. But outside of that, it’d been more than three decades since they last triumphed under typical circumstances.

SEATTLE — It was one last batter. One last strikeout. One last ovation for a future Hall of Famer.

And it ended, fittingly, on one last swing-and-miss.

In the top of the sixth inning on Sunday afternoon, in the final regular-season outing of his illustrious 18-year career, Clayton Kershaw snapped off a trademark slider that ducked below the zone. Eugenio Suárez helplessly waved at it like so many others before him.

With that, Kershaw had his seventh strikeout of the day and the 3,052nd of his career. He had completed 5 ⅓ scoreless innings en route to his 223rd career win, lowering his career ERA to 2.53 — the best among any starting pitcher with 1,000 career innings in the live ball era (since 1920).

The fourth in an occasional series of profiles on Southern California athletes who have flourished in their post-playing careers.

Before there was Mookie Betts, there was Bill Russell.

An outstanding outfielder in his first three major league seasons, Russell moved to the infield full time in his fourth year. It was a disaster.

“It was something I lost a lot of sleep over,” said Russell, who led the majors with 34 errors that year. “After the season, I just collapsed for a few weeks.”

Despite missing the last three weeks of the season with a fracture in his right hand, catcher Will Smith was included on the Dodgers’ roster for their best-of-three wild card series against the Cincinnati Reds this week, the team announced ahead of Game 1 on Tuesday.

Smith was not in the starting lineup for Game 1, with Ben Rortvedt behind the plate for the series opener. However, manager Dave Roberts didn’t close the door on Smith being able to start later in the series, and said that the two-time All-Star would be available Tuesday to pinch-hit.

VIDEO | 00:43

How the Dodgers built their wild-card roster

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“The hitting, the throwing, he feels really good about,” Roberts said. “I think it’s a day-to-day thing. And so I’m not closing the door that he’s not going to start tomorrow. But I do feel that the floor of having him available to hit in any big spot, it was certainly worth having him on the roster.”

The Dodgers also put a third catcher, rookie Dalton Rushing, on the wild-card roster.

“It got to a good place where the bone had healed,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said of Smith’s hand, which was originally injured in early September when it was hit by a foul ball, but wasn’t diagnosed as a fracture until a couple weeks later.

“Now it’s about getting strength back,” Friedman added. “Once you do that, then it’s about throwing. We were able to keep his legs going, but he hasn’t had that throwing volume in a little while. So now we have to continue to kind of progressively layer that on. But as far as him in the batter’s box, if there’s a big spot, we all felt really good about betting on Will.”

Max Muncy and Tommy Edman, who both missed time last week with minor injuries, were also on the roster, as expected.

The Dodgers are not the norm in baseball. For the majority of teams in the major leagues, the last week of the regular season is the last week until spring training.

As the Angels played out their final week, the Angel Stadium store featured a “Thank You Fans” sale, with up to 50% off caps, T-shirts, polo shirts, jackets, even authentic Mike Trout jerseys.

Inside the clubhouse, the reminders for players had the feel of the final week of school: return your team-issued iPad; order your gloves for next season; take your exit physical.

“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.

Here are the starting lineups for the Dodgers and Reds in Game 1 of their National League wild-card playoff series on Tuesday:

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he would be scoreboard watching on Sunday afternoon.

But he insisted he didn’t care how things played out.

His team, of course, had already been locked in as the National League’s No. 3 seed, set to host a best-of-three wild card series at Dodger Stadium starting Tuesday.

What wasn’t clear until the end of play on Sunday, however, was whether the Dodgers would be facing the Cincinnati Reds or New York Mets to open the postseason.

Blake Snell did not sound bitter. Somehow, he was not racked with regret.

Rather, when asked at his introductory Dodgers news conference this past offseason about the most infamous moment of his career, he took a brief moment to think. Then, unexpectedly, he expressed gratitude instead.

Five years ago, Snell was pitching the game of his life in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series. With his Tampa Bay Rays facing elimination against the Dodgers, he had answered the bell with five one-hit, nine-strikeout, virtually flawless Fall Classic innings.

The Dodgers open the postseason Tuesday when they face the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of a National League wild-card series at Dodger Stadium.

The game is scheduled to start at 6:08 p.m. PDT. It will be televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Radio broadcasts of the game will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Español) in the Los Angeles area.

Here are the latest betting odds for Game 1 of the wild-card series:

Here’s the TV schedule for the remaining games of the best-of-three series (all times Pacific):

Game 2: Wednesday, 6:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | ESPN, ESPN Deportes

Game 3*: Thursday, 6:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium | ESPN, ESPN Deportes

* if necessary