Shohei Ohtani dazzles in playoff debut, Dodgers win Game 1

Shohei Ohtani unleashed a mighty swing and flung his bat just as ferociously. For a brief moment, before making his way up the first-base line to commemorate his two-out, game-tying three-run homer in Saturday's second inning, he even sauntered.

"I could really feel the intensity of the stadium before the game began," Ohtani said through an interpreter, "and I thoroughly enjoyed it."

With one swing, Ohtani somehow met the enormous hype he carried into his postseason debut. And through nine innings, the buzz that surrounded a National League Division Series showdown between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres actually lived up to its billing. It finished with a 7-5 Dodgers win in Game 1 in front of a sold-out crowd. Before that, there were lead changes and early runs, defensive gems and critical errors, and tense jams and constant electricity.

The first jolt was provided by Ohtani.

"I don't even try to explain him anymore," Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen said. "Just watch and enjoy."

Ohtani's homer -- a 118 mph line drive to right field on an elevated fastball by Padres right-hander Dylan Cease -- came an inning after Manny Machado's two-run shot gave San Diego an early three-run lead.

After Xander Bogaerts gave the Padres the lead again on a third-inning two-run double, the Dodgers came back again in the bottom of the fourth -- loading the bases with one out then jumping ahead on a wild pitch and a two-run single by Teoscar Hernandez.

A Dodgers bullpen that will be relied on heavily given the team's starting-pitching woes took it from there. Ryan Brasier, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech and Treinen came in in relief of a wobbly Yoshinobu Yamamoto and combined for six scoreless innings, walking four batters but scattering just two hits.