Ohtani Powers Dodgers to 10-5 Wild Card Win

The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the NL Wild Card Series with a 10-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds as Shohei Ohtani crushed two homers, went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and helped give the Dodgers a 1-0 series lead. His leadoff shot off Hunter Greene registered a 117.7 mph exit velocity — the hardest home run off a 100+ mph pitch in the Statcast era — and his second was a 454-foot moonshot, the longest Dodgers postseason homer in the Statcast era. Teoscar Hernández also hit two homers and drove in four, and Blake Snell struck out nine over seven strong innings as the Dodgers built an early 8-0 lead. Cincinnati rallied late and forced multiple relievers in the eighth, but the Dodgers held on. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is lined up to start Game 2, with the Dodgers one win from advancing or facing a deciding Game 3. Ohtani’s night further cemented his dominant 2025 campaign (55 regular-season homers) and keeps open the possibility he could pitch later in the series as a two-way player.