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Shohei Ohtani wins the first MLB playoff series of his career as the Dodgers beat the Padres in a historic game

Shohei Ohtani wins the first MLB playoff series of his career as the Dodgers beat the Padres in a historic game

The Los Angeles Dodgers will avoid a third straight NLDS upset.

With a narrow 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game 5 at home on Friday, the Dodgers won their first playoff series of the current postseason format. They lost to wild card teams in the NLDS in each of the last two seasons.

It is the first postseason win of Shohei Ohtani's MLB career.

The Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto singled out the Padres' Yu Darvish in a historic playoff matchup between Japanese-born starters, and the Los Angeles Dodgers got home runs from Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández to beat the San Diego Padres 2 on Friday: 0 Promotion to the National League Championship Series.

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Kike Hernandez homer

Enrique Hernández #8 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates with Mookie Betts #50, Shohei Ohtani #17 and Teoscar Hernández #37 after hitting a solo home run in the second inning in game five of the Division Series between the San. presented by Booking.com has Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Friday, October 11, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Yamamoto allowed two hits in five innings for the Dodgers before being ejected after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated NL West rivals, who were meeting in a Division Series for the third time in five years.

Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers will play the wild card New York Mets in the best-of-seven NLCS, which begins Sunday night in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers won a decisive Game 5 at home for the first time since appearing in the 1981 NL Division Series against Houston after the season was split in half following a players' strike. With the majors' best regular-season record of 98-64, they successfully avoided a third straight NLDS elimination.

The Padres' big hitters were busted, their season hanging in the balance. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado were 1 for 14 in Game 5 as Los Angeles pitchers retired their final 19 batters.

San Diego went scoreless in the final 24 innings of the series and lost the last two games after taking a 2-1 lead at home.

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Teoscar home run

Teoscar Hernández #37 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the San Diego Padres in the seventh inning of Game Five of the Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on October 11, 2024. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Yamamoto and Darvish were the first Japanese-born pitchers to face each other in major league playoff history. The 26-year-old Yamamoto became the fifth rookie in Dodgers history to start a winner-take-all game.

Darvish, Ohtani's 38-year-old childhood idol, gave up an early home run against Kiké Hernández and then struck out 14 straight. Teoscar Hernández's home run chased Darvish in the seventh, making it 2-0.

The Padres and Dodgers combined to retire 26 batters in a row, the longest streak in a single game in postseason history.

Darvish gave up two runs and three hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking one.

Darvish and Ohtani teamed up to help Japan win the World Baseball Classic last year, but on Friday they were rivals. Ohtani struck out three times, including twice against Darvish in a game watched Saturday morning in Japan.

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Alex Vesia

Alex Vesia #51 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after striking out Jackson Merrill (not pictured) of the San Diego Padres to lead off the seventh inning of game five of the Division Series at Dodger Stadium on October 11, 2024 in Los Angeles, California to finish. (Harry How/Getty Images)

The teams combined to score 43 runs in the first five games of the series, but the winner-take-all finale was a thrilling pitching affair in front of a sellout crowd of 53,183 that included the Los Angeles Lakers superstar , LeBron James, and a Hollywood contingent included Brad Pitt, Rob Lowe, Bryan Cranston and Jimmy Kimmel.

The Dodgers are heading to the NLCS for the 16th time overall and first since 2021, when they lost to Atlanta in six games.

The Padres enter the offseason with a lot of promise for next year. They challenged the Dodgers for the NL West title until the final days of the regular season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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