Dodgers Win NLDS Game 1 on Hernández Homer

Teoscar Hernández’s two-out, three-run homer off Matt Strahm in the seventh gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia had taken a 3-0 lead in the second on a two-RBI triple by J.T. Realmuto and a Harrison Bader sacrifice fly—helped by a Teoscar Hernández misplay—and Bader later exited with a strained left hamstring. Kiké Hernández’s two-out, two-run double in the sixth set up the Dodgers’ comeback. Shohei Ohtani, making his first postseason pitching start, allowed the three-run second but settled to strike out nine over six innings while also striking out four times as a hitter. Los Angeles’ bullpen preserved the win: Tyler Glasnow worked out of trouble, Alex Vesia induced a bases-loaded, two-out flyout in the eighth, and rookie Roki Sasaki recorded his first career save in the ninth. The loss leaves Philadelphia in a precarious position at home—historically the club has never won a postseason series after dropping Game 1—as the series shifts to Game 2 on Monday.