Dodgers Recap: Long Balls Propel Dodgers to Game 1 Victory
NL Wild Card Series Game 1, 9/30/2025: Dodgers 10, Reds 5
CHAVEZ RAVINE — And THAT, ladies and gentlemen is why you pay for superstars! Riding a brilliant pitching performance from Blake Snell, and a five-homer barrage from their offense, the Dodgers looked every bit like a World Series champ on Tuesday night, making short work of Hunter Greene and the Cincinnati Reds by a score of 10-5.
The tone was set before Dodger fans’ nachos had a chance to cool. After Snell pitched a 1-2-3 first, Shohei Ohtani led off the Dodgers’ half of the frame and did what Shohei does. On the fourth pitch of the evening from local product Greene, Shohei went yard, cracking a 117-mph screaming soaring over the right field fence. And just like that, the Dodgers had a lead they would never relinquish.
They piled on in the third. And, truth be told, they got a lot of help from Hunter Greene. Two walks and a wild pitch put Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy on second and third with just one out. That was all the table setting Teoscar Hernandez needed. Teo got a 1-0 slider in the zone, and made Greene pay dearly, depositing the ball among the paying customers in left field, and staking Snell to a 4-0 advantage. Tommy Edman wanted in on the fun, too. Two pitches later, Edman, batting left-handed against Greene, ripped a ball down the right field line for the third tater of the night. It was five runs on the board, and the game wasn’t even an hour old. Things looked very good indeed.
Though it was hardly necessary, the Dodger bats kept pouring it on. In the fifth, Teo notched his second long ball of the night, ripping a solo shot off reliever Connor Phillips. It was the capstone on a three-hit night for Teoscar, who seems to have found his power stroke just on time. Then, in the next inning, guess who? Yes, Shohei wasn’t going to be outdone. Now, it was HIS turn for a two-homer night. He hit a tremendous blast to center, 454 feet from home plate. With Kike Hernandez scoring ahead of him, Ohtani crossed the plate with the Dodgers’ eighth run of the night. The five dingers matched a Dodger postseason record.
Meanwhile, Blake Snell was absolutely filfthy. And, in a welcome twist, he didn’t need a million pitches to do his business. The only damage done in his first six innings of work was a two-out double from Matt McClain in the third. It got a little shaky in the seventh when the Reds were able to scratch a run across on a couple of singles and a double play ball that just missed being turned by a hair. Then, Snell gave up a second run in the inning on an RBI double from Tyler Stephenson. But Snell got out of the inning with a groundout to second, and his night was over. His line for a fantastic first start in Dodger blue: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. Overwhelming stuff. Well done, Snellzilla.
The Dodgers were unfazed by the two-run seventh as they came back with a two-spot of their own in the bottom of the inning. They got a little help from a throwing error from Noelvi Marte on an ill-advised attempt to cut down Miguel Rojas at third. But the Dodgers got their second run fair and square on a solid single from catcher Ben Rortvedt. Will Smith no doubt enjoying the show from the bench. Smith may see action in this series, but his services were definitely not needed in this one.
Perhaps the less said about the top of the eighth the better. Suffice it to say, nobody could throw strikes and it took an excruciating 59 pitches to get three outs, but not before three runs had scored. Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer did not exactly cover themselves in glory in this one. Not gonna lie, that takes a little of the joy out of the evening.
Luckily, Blake Treinen looked more like his old self in the ninth, pitching around a two-out single and closing out the game for the Dodgers, giving them a 1-0 lead in the series. Under this format, the winner of Game 1 has gone onto win about 90 % of the time, so it all bodes will for a trip to Philly on the weekend.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We still have a game to win. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is scheduled to pitch on Wednesday against Zach Littell, and like tonight’s match-up, this one favors the home team by a lot on paper. Let’s hope the result on the field is just as pleasing. Game time 6:00 PDT. See you there!
Have you subscribed to the Bleed Los Podcast YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows & promotions, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
