Early on in Game 5 of the NLCS, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a chance to firmly stomp their collective foot on the New York Mets. It was hard to be more emphatic than they were in Games 3 and 4, both blowout victories to take a 3-1 lead, but they were going to have to try. After all, a World Series berth was on the line, and whoever bled first was in danger of being buried.
Immediately, it felt as if this game might be the same as the previous two. Mets left-hander David Peterson, chosen to start almost explicitly to limit Shohei Ohtani, walked him instead to lead off the game. Mookie Betts followed with a hard, but trackable liner to right field. Unfortunately for the Mets, it still doinked off Starling Marte’s glove, setting the Dodgers up with runners on second and third with no outs. First blood.
Except … Teoscar Hernández grounded to short, with Francisco Lindor playing normal depth. The contact play was off. Ohtani seemed off. He didn’t break for home, staying put in the hope that Freddie Freeman would swiftly drive him home. Instead, he laced one directly to first base, a third out followed, and the Dodgers had surrendered the upper hand.
After Pete Alonso’s three-run home run further cemented his legend in New York and stole the Dodgers’ intended narrative, Dave Roberts revealed his true feelings in a mid-game dugout interview.
“Yeah I don’t know, it was corners in right there, ball to the middle of the field. I think he just had a brain cramp and locked up right there,” Roberts told Ken Rosenthal. “They kinda built momentum and hopefully we can weather that.”
Dodgers’ NLCS Game 5 momentum turned in first inning when Shohei Ohtani didn’t score
Spoiler alert: You did not weather that.
Game 6 will come home to Los Angeles, and the Dodgers will get a second crack at Sean Manaea, a left-hander they were unsuccessful in conquering the first time around.
Let this be a lesson: every single moment of every single postseason game can tip an individual contest, which can tip a series. Ohtani proved once and for all during this road portion of the series that he can come up clutch in October. Now, he’ll have to prove that he has a short memory.
