Shohei Ohtani helps lift Dodgers to NLDS Game 1 win over Padres
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run in the second inning Saturday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
⚾ Dodgers 7, Padres 5 — FINAL
The redemption tour began just as the Dodgers imagined it, back when they signed Shohei Ohtani to his $700-million contract in the offseason.
With one of the superstar’s thunderous, no-doubt, game-changing home run swings.
One inning into their postseason opener on Saturday night, the Dodgers were having nightmare flashbacks to last year, facing yet another deep hole after yet another poor performance from their Game 1 starting pitcher.
The 53,028 towel-waving fans at Dodger Stadium had been silenced. In the visiting dugout, the San Diego Padres were riding an early jolt of momentum.
But then, in the kind of sequence that eluded the Dodgers during their recent postseason failures, Ohtani came to the plate and, in his first career playoff game, immediately …