With one hit, Shohei Ohtani gives the Dodgers a win in Game 1

LOS ANGELES — Another Game 1 — and possibly another postseason — slid into disaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers just eight minutes after the first pitch. A team pushed by its manager to strike the first blow after consecutive playoff flops instead stumbled back again.

But what a difference a year makes. What a difference Shohei Ohtani makes.

That much was clear as the Dodgers, facing a three-run deficit before throwing a single hit, looked for a counterpunch and landed on their $700 million man. It was lively when Ohtani tagged a 97 mph Dylan Cease fastball at the top of the zone and fired it into the right field stands, tying the game and giving the Dodgers life as they attempted a third to avoid such duds in as many postseasons. Dodger Stadium shook as Ohtani tossed his bat to the side and watched it fly.

Ohtani officially arrived in October, as did the Dodgers. They twice recovered from early deficits, survived another postseason implosion at the hands of a starting pitcher and redeemed themselves with a 7-5 victory in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres.

This is the version of the Dodgers that manager Dave Roberts said was coming, whether as an expression of hope or an expression of earnest belief.

“For me,” Roberts said, “I’m just trying to throw the first punch.”

Instead, he saw his team leave the mat.

“I’ve been talking about this for a few weeks – we have to fight,” Roberts said. “And that’s what we did tonight.”

“When you have Shohei Ohtani on your team, it always helps,” Freddie Freeman said. (Harry How/Getty Images)

The Dodgers fought despite being in a dangerous situation. Not once in 14 tries has a Dodgers club come back to win a postseason game after trailing by three or more runs after the first inning – including the loss 364 days ago when the Arizona Diamondbacks struck out Clayton Kershaw for six runs and Knocking him out afterward had only picked up one.

That night left a shadow that could not be undone by a quick blow for three nights. When the Padres bombed Yoshinobu Yamamoto with three runs in the first inning, including a two-run home run by Manny Machado, it slowed the sold-out Dodger Stadium to quite a crawl.

“I mean, you could almost feel it in the stadium,” Max Muncy said. “Then fortunately we have a man named Shohei Ohtani who gave the stadium an absolute thunderbolt.”

Will Smith’s walk and Gavin Lux’s line single had put the Padres in a situation that they’ll want to avoid as much as possible in the next few games: Ohtani is up and there’s nowhere to put him. All joking attempts to conceal a plan against him then come to nothing. And Cease, who had challenged Ohtani in his first at-bat with an elevated fastball and made him fly flat to left, tried a similar formula to get back to 2-1.

Ohtani connected.

“I really enjoyed it,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton.

In his first major league postseason game, he savored the moment he signed here for.

“I’ve truly never seen a guy come through in the biggest moments as consistently as he did,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers had life again.

“When you have Shohei Ohtani on your team, it always helps,” Freddie Freeman said.

When the Dodgers tried to erase another deficit two innings later, Ohtani was back in the thick of things. After Tommy Edman’s bunt single and Miguel Rojas’ liner to left, Ohtani smashed his bat and still sent the ball into the outfield to load the bases. When Padres reliever Adrian Morejon’s wild pitch brought home a run, Shildt intentionally walked Mookie Betts – even with two hits. Two batters later, Teoscar Hernández’s single brought home Ohtani and Betts, giving the Dodgers a lead they refused to relinquish.

It also gave them air. For the first time since Game 4 of the NLDS against these very Padres, the Dodgers had a lead in a postseason game. For the first time since Game 2 of this series, they had a lead at home.

“From then on it was like, ‘Okay, we’ve got this.’ This is not the same as in previous years. “We’re fine,” Muncy said.

Now the Dodgers also have a lead in the series thanks to Ohtani, a gutsy performance from Freeman and six scoreless innings out of a bullpen that the Dodgers touted amid questions about the rotation.

It took a while to get there. Ohtani noted that he had a hard time getting going the first time he came back from a bye. Another brief stint by a starter didn’t help, giving the Dodgers starters 18 runs allowed in the final 7 2/3 postseason innings.

It also needed something the Dodgers didn’t have last year: perhaps the best player in the world during one of the hottest stretches of his career, batting well over .500 in what’s now a 13-game hitting streak, collecting hits in 14 of his last 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The Dodgers didn’t want Ohtani to have to carry them. So he egged her on instead.

“When you get a player like Shohei, who clearly embraces those moments and has the ability to carry a ball bat, then I think there’s something about the – I hate to say ‘pressure’ – but the pressure for to alleviate other players,” Roberts said. “He’s just very unique and talented. In some ways, he’s been the best player on the field since he was a teenager, I’m sure.

“I think it’s special to have a superstar player who can carry a ball bat.”

Saturday night he did just that.

(Top photo by Shohei Ohtani: Harry How / Getty Images)