There's real potential for the Dodgers at the bottom of the rankings – Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES – Here we go, Dodger fans.

You have something to celebrate! A playoff win.

Saturday's 7-5 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the National League Division Series ended a six-game playoff losing streak and put the Dodgers in the postseason win column for the first time since Oct. 11, 2022.

You can thank Shohei Ohtani for that. And Will Smith, Gavin Lux, Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas.

Together, the guys at the Dodgers' end made the club's most effective play: putting runners on base for Ohtani, LA's leader.

“Everyone really did their part today,” said Ohtani, the Dodgers' $700 million 50/50 man, who went 2 for 5, scored twice and scored three runs on a screamer into the right field pavilion in the second inning drove.

The runners he drove in: No. 6 hitter Smith (who walked) and No. 7 Lux (who singled).

“The entire team,” emphasized Ohtani, “especially the bullpen.”

And sure, Shohei, the Dodgers' relay team deserves praise for keeping the Padres' high-powered offense off the board from the fourth inning onward.

Everyone would have a completely different conversation – for example, “Can you believe the Dodgers are paying Yoshinobu Yamamoto $325 million to give up five earned runs in three innings in his first playoff start?” In The Business?!' — if the Dodgers pitchers behind him hadn't written such a successful response.

And even if the bottom of the rankings hadn't come through at the plate like he did before, scoring a combined four of the Dodgers' runs and reaching base in 6 of their 16 plate appearances.

It felt like a game that, in more recent NBA parlance, was similar to the “Lonnie Walker Game,” or the Lakers' Game 4 win over the Golden State Warriors a few years ago when a reserve guard exploded for 15 incredibly meaningful fourth-down goals. Quarter points helped the Lakers take a 3-1 lead in their second round Western Conference playoffs.

Great teams don't waste that effort, the grit, and the necessary performances of unlikely heroes. These big games that take some of the pressure off the superstars who carry so much of the burden at the top of the rankings.

To beat San Diego on Saturday, the Dodgers didn't need fireworks from Mookie Betts, who went 0-2 but received two intentional walks, including a strange free pass with the score tied at 2-2.

They didn't do that need Freddie Freeman has to put even more pressure on his sprained ankle than he already did in an intentional 2-on-5 game.

Because it was Smith, Lux, Edman and Rojas who applied the pressure.

They worked Padres starter Dylan Cease for 22 pitches before Ohtani came on in the second inning. And Edman surprised the Padres with a blistering single in the fourth when he scored on a wild pitch. And Lux ​​made it down the field too, snagging Luis Arráez's liner at second base to help the Dodgers preserve a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth.

“When you see a guy like (starting pitcher Dylan) Cease, who has a really great ability to be able to grind at-bats, that's the hard part,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “In order to be able to go for walks, we did it all night long. I got the pitch count up, took him out of the game, looked at some guys – that’s a credit to our guys.”

And perhaps we should give more credit to these people who are deep in the Order?