The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to win in the playoffs, even without many home runs and stolen bases from Shohei Ohtani.
The Japanese star was caught stealing for the first time in almost three months on Sunday night, ending a streak of 36 successful stolen base attempts.
The Dodgers defeated the Mets 9-0. Ohtani went 2 for 4 with a walk, scoring two runs and driving in another.
He was thrown out trying to steal second base by Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez for the Dodgers’ final out of the second inning in the NL Championship Series opener.
The last catcher to throw out Ohtani was Patrick Bailey from San Francisco, who did so on July 22, also at second base.
Ohtani’s RBI single off Kodai Senga helped give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead and knocked the Mets starter out of the game. Ohtani added another single in the fourth against David Peterson, which allowed a run to score due to a fielding error by right fielder Starling Marte.
Ohtani then scored on Freddie Freeman’s single to make it 6-0.
Ohtani has been somewhat quiet at the plate since hitting a tying three-run homer in Game 1 of the NL Division Series against San Diego.
“I think right now he’s in a good spot,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Like I said that last series, I thought he chased it a little bit, but I think tonight he got back into his hitting zone and some good things happened. And even one of his outs was close to being a homer.”
Ohtani is 6 for 8 with runners on base in the playoffs but 0 for 16 when the bases are empty.
“We’re better when we get guys on with Shohei up to bat,” Roberts said. “Obviously when guys are in scoring position there might be a little bit more focus.”
None of the Dodgers’ nine runs in Game 1 came from home runs.
“Everybody’s doing their jobs and scoring early is a key to our game,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.
Ohtani became the first 50-50 player, hitting .310, leading the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs, and stealing 59 bases in 63 attempts.
