Ohtani, Sasaki Team Up for Super Samurai Shutdown of Phillies

L.A.’s Japanese imports make history as Dodgers grab lead in NLDS with strong mound presence.

Shohei Ohtani, #17, of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts at the end of the sixth inning while playing the Philadelphia Phillies in game one of the Division Series at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 04, 2025. Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

Shohei Ohtani had not only worked six quality innings in Saturday’s National League Division Series opener at Philadelphia, but the Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star seemed to put another talent on display in the final frame.

Ohtani played the role of calming force in the dugout when he placed his right arm around the shoulder of teammate Teoscar Hernandez with one out in the ninth inning—as if to assure the night’s hitting star that Japanese compatriot Roki Sasaki would shut down the Phillies and lock up a Game 1 victory.

Sasaki allowed a hit on the next pitch, but quietly held the Phillies down to save it for Ohtani (1–0) as the Dodgers earned a 5–3 decision and took the early lead in the best-of-five NLDS.

Ohtani was busy adding to records books left and right while earning a victory in his playoff debut on the mound. He became the first starting pitcher in big league history to lead off in a postseason game. The only other starting pitcher to who didn’t bat in the No. 8 or 9 holes was Babe Ruth in the 1918 World Series, when he hit sixth in Game 4, according to MLB’s Sarah Langs.

Ohtani went 0 for 4—all strikeouts—with a walk at the plate, but even L.A. manager Dave Roberts threw out a verbal bow to the eighth-year big leaguer in his postgame press conference.

“It’s certainly never been done, certainly at this level. I think it just really speaks to—I use the word ‘compartmentalize’ a lot, but this epitomizes compartmentalizing. He’s essentially two people in one night—in one game,” Roberts said.

“To kind of look at the at-bats that he took tonight and how he struggled offensively, but to separate that and just weather that three-run inning and just give us six innings, keep us in the ballgame—I just don’t know any human that can manage that, those emotions. How do you not take that to the mound?

“We continue to just witness history.”

Part of the history-making game was Ohtani giving Sasaki time to get hot in the bullpen.

Longtime Kyodo News sportswriter and “Japan Baseball Weekly” podcast personality Jim Allen said Japan was bursting with a sense of pride for its major leaguers, while he personally admired Ohtani’s presence of mind in an important game situation.

Roki Sasaki #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in game one of the Division Series at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 04, 2025. Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

“The big news here seems to be that people are excited because, a) they did it in the same game and, b) Sasaki had never saved a game before,” Allen told The Epoch Times via direct message.

“For me, the most interesting thing was Otani squaring to bunt (in the ninth inning when he drew a walk) to give Sasaki a few extra seconds to warm up in the bullpen. That awareness for a relief pitcher reminded me a little of the WBC (2023 World Baseball Classic) final, when Otani was jogging to the bullpen before every defensive inning.”

Ohtani got the save for Samurai Japan against the United States to close out the 2023 WBC, and he saved some precious time for Sasaki by taking pitches and reaching base on Saturday.

“Will (Smith) told me that the order had come from skipper that he wanted me to take up some time because Roki had just started to get ready in the bullpen,” Ohtani said. “So in that sense, it was a very good walk. And it all worked out well.”

Langs also said the Dodgers were the second team in postseason history with a win and save from Japanese-born pitchers in a game, the first with the win being the starting pitcher. Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara were the first to get a win and a save, playing big roles in Game 6 of the 2013 American League Championship Series for the Boston Red Sox.

The L.A. duo, though, created an eye-opening buzz in Japan.

“Ohtani is the headliner, though Sasaki is getting his flowers,” Tokyo-based Japan Times baseball writer Jason Coskrey said via direct message. “It seems with him a lot of the attention is also on how impressed the U.S. media seems to be with him.”

Sasaki, who allowed Roberts to rebuild his bullpen on the fly after the team’s relievers struggled through a choppy regular season, struck out J.T. Realmuto to open the ninth, then allowed a leg double to Max Kepler. But the 23-year-old righty, a starter all of his pro career in Japan and this first season in MLB, enticed a groundout and a popout to end the game for his first save in the major leagues. And he is fresh off a long-term injury.

Roberts said using Sasaki was just the way Game 1 played out, and it looks like teams won’t know who to expect out of the L.A. bullpen.

“With Roki, I just felt that the lane right there, asking Alex (Vesia) to do an up-down, I just felt comfortable with him right there,” Roberts said. “Honestly, I could’ve went to a couple of other guys in those spots, but knowing who I’ve got, I felt good about those guys we were running out there.”