Dodgers show much-needed grit in G1 comeback win

LOS ANGELES -- All week long, the Dodgers talked about their attitude. Sure, mechanical adjustments and working through a five-day layoff were going to play a factor. But what the Dodgers said they needed to change was their intensity level.

In their last two postseason appearances -- both of which ended in the National League Division Series -- the Dodgers admitted they didn’t show the fight necessary to win. They were punched first each time by division foes. They never punched back.

Before Game 1 of the best-of-five NLDS on Saturday night, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts echoed the same words. He wanted to see his team deliver a few punches. He did add, however, that it was time for the Dodgers to stop talking about it. They needed to show it on the field.

The Dodgers more than showed their capability of landing a few haymakers of their own, coming from behind a couple of times in the 7-5 win over the Padres in the series opener at Dodger Stadium.

“I talked about this for a few weeks, and we need to fight,” Roberts said. “And that’s what we did tonight. Didn’t get an ideal start. But guys in the bullpen picked us up and the offense was relentless with their at-bats.”

In all best-of-five postseason series, the team that wins Game 1 has gone on to take the series 109 of 152 times (72%). In Division Series under the current 2-2-1 format, teams winning Game 1 at home have advanced 37 of 51 times (73%).

For about 10 minutes, the scene at Dodger Stadium was eerily similar to 2023’s Game 1 loss to the D-backs. A year ago, Clayton Kershaw allowed six runs in the first inning. The Dodgers never got off the mat after the early onslaught.

This time, it was Yoshinobu Yamamoto who didn’t have it on the mound. The Padres jumped on the Japanese right-hander for three runs in the first, highlighted by Manny Machado's two-run homer. For the second consecutive postseason opener, the raucous crowd at Dodger Stadium was quickly silenced.

But unlike last year, the Dodgers didn’t flinch -- and that’s the reason they believe this October will be different.

In the second inning, it was Shohei Ohtani’s turn to welcome himself to the postseason stage. The overwhelming NL Most Valuable Player Award favorite smashed a game-tying three-run homer off right-hander Dylan Cease. As soon as Ohtani made contact, he flipped his bat and yelled as he rounded the bases.

“You could almost feel it in the stadium,” said Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, when asked about the similar start to last year’s postseason. “Then, thankfully, we have a guy whose name is Shohei Ohtani, and he injected an absolute lightning bolt into the stadium. From then on, it was, ‘All right, we’ve got this. This is not the same as years past. We’re good.’”

“I could really feel the intensity of the stadium before the game began, and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Ohtani added through interpreter Will Ireton. “It's hard to compare, but I've played at this stadium the entire year and was able to really feel the intensity of the stadium.”

The emotions from Ohtani were the first visual representation of the fight and intensity the Dodgers promised to deliver. But they weren’t the last.

After the Padres jumped back out in front on a Xander Bogaerts two-run double off Yamamoto in the third, the Dodgers needed to answer once again. That’s when Teoscar Hernández, who has been L.A.'s unsung hero all season long, delivered his biggest hit to date.

Hernández smoked a two-out, two-run single to center field to give the Dodgers a 6-5 advantage. They wouldn’t give up that lead the rest of the way as the bullpen shut things down with six scoreless innings.

“It meant a lot, especially because I put the team ahead,” Hernández said. “I’m not trying to do more. Just trying to do my part. Have good at-bats, good pitch selection.”

Saturday’s game was a perfect look at what the Dodgers’ plan will have to be for the rest of the postseason. On the field, they understand their rotation issues won’t magically come to an end. It’s also clear that for them to win 10 more games, they’ll have to be led by their star-studded lineup and a talented bullpen, both of which stepped up big in Game 1.

But perhaps most importantly, the Dodgers showed the intangibles that have been lacking for years. Freddie Freeman displayed the necessary toughness, playing through a badly sprained right ankle and collecting two hits and stealing a base. Miguel Rojas, dealing with a torn left adductor, made a game-altering defensive play in the eighth.

Whether the Dodgers can win the World Series will ultimately be settled on the field. But they finally proved they’re not afraid to throw a punch when necessary.

“We all know that we’re facing a really good team over there, but matching the intensity for us on our end, we all know the type of game that we play, who we are as a team and that we are the Dodgers,” Rojas said. “But at the same time, we have a team over there that every time they play us, they play us like it’s the last game that they’re going to play. I think it speaks volumes of this team and what we were able to do.”