“As expected, the 0th most valuable player candidate.” Ohtani revived Dodgers win Game 1 of Championship Series

Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers), who is considered the “0th” candidate for MVP in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) National League this season, shook off the sluggishness of the division series and led the team to victory.

Ohtani played as the first designated hitter in the first game of the National League Championship Series (NLCS, best-of-seven) against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on the 14th (Korea time) and led his team to a 9-0 victory by scoring two hits, one RBI and two runs from four times at bat.

It didn’t start well. Ohtani grounded out to second base in the bottom of the first inning, his first at bat, and seemed to be continuing his slump in autumn baseball. He performed worse than expected with a batting average of 0.200 (four hits in 20 at-bats) and one homerun and four RBIs in five games of the Division Series with the San Diego Padres. He also had no hits and three strikeouts in four times at bat in the last five games, displaying poor condition.

However, Ohtani was also highly likely to be named MVP. He entered the batter’s box for the second time with one out and runners on the second base with a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, and hit a timely hit to right field. With this timely hit, Ohtani recorded a batting average of 0.800 (4 hits from 5 times at bat) in scoring position in this post season, displaying his temperament as a “fighter.” At the same time, he succeeded in bringing down Japanese pitcher Senga Godai from the mound after 1.1 innings with this hit.

Ohtani’s performance continued. With his team leading 4-0, Ohtani had a multi-hitter when he had a right-handed hit off Mets pitcher David Peterson with one out and a runner on the first base in the bottom of the fourth inning. In his last at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning, Ohtani walked and stepped on the base three times.

His teammates also showed strong solidarity and responded to Ohtani’s performance. Dodgers loaded the bases with three consecutive walks after one out in the bottom of the first inning, and Max Muncy’s two-run timely hit scored the first run. Leading 3-0 with Ohtani’s timely hit in the bottom of the second inning, Dodgers widened the score gap to 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning by combining consecutive hits by Tommy Edman and Ohtani, and timely hit by Freddie Freeman. Mookie Betts sealed the victory in the bottom of the eighth inning. With the bases loaded with one out, he hit a sweeping double that brought in all the runners, completing the landslide 9-0 victory.

The mound’s performance also shone. Dodgers starter 꽁머니 became the winning pitcher with two hits, two walks and six strikeouts in seven innings, while Daniel Hudson (one scoreless inning) and Ben Kasparius (one scoreless inning) also kept the lead steady. In particular, the Dodgers’ mound continued its scoreless streak of 33 consecutive innings without giving up a single run since allowing six runs in the second inning of Game 3 of the Division Series on the 9th. This is a tie with Baltimore’s longest scoreless inning in the World Series in 1966.

The Dodgers had an advantage in advancing to the World Series by winning Game 1. In the best-of-seven MLB postseason series, the team that wins Game 1 has a 64 percent chance of advancing to the World Series.

On the other hand, the Mets, who staged an “underdog rebellion” by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies, the favorite to win the division series, failed to continue the momentum of the fall baseball, as starting pitcher Senga collapsed with two hits, four walks and three runs during 1.1 innings. The second round of the NLCS will be held at the same venue on Saturday.