Dodgers win the first game of the district series, Ohtani has one hit, Munetaka Murakami hits his first home run in PS

The Major League Baseball postseason (PS) began on the 3rd (4th Japan time) with district series (5 rounds) starting in various regions. In the National League, the Dodgers (1st place in the West Region), to which Shohei Ohtani belongs, will appear. They played against the Braves (1st place in the East Division) at their home base in Los Angeles and won 5-3.

Otani started as the No. 2 designated hitter and had 1 hit in 4 at bats. In his first at-bat of the first inning, he hit a hit to right field. His second at-bat in the third inning was on second shift, his third at-bat in the fifth inning was to left, and his fourth at-bat in the seventh inning was to center.

The Dodgers took the lead in the fourth inning with a two-run hit by T. Hernandez. After that, he continued to score points with home runs and escaped.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is scheduled to start in the third game against the enemy on the 6th. Aki Sasaki will be waiting in the bullpen as a relief player at PS.

Otani started the season for the first time in three years as a two-way pitcher, but he has not pitched since July and has given up on returning as a pitcher this season. As a batter, he was placed on the 15-day injured list (IL) in early September due to inflammation in his upper right arm. He returned on the 23rd of the same month. Although he played in five games, he entered this postseason without hitting a home run until No. 30 on August 18th.

At the press conference the day before the match, he said, ``I feel a sense of anticipation and excitement that the game is finally starting.''

The Dodgers are aiming to become the third team in history to win their third straight World Series.

In this regular season, they won the National League West Division for the fifth time in a row. They have faced the Braves, whose team includes Olson, who has hit 41 home runs this season, six times, with one win and five losses. This will be the fourth time the two teams have met in the district series, with the Dodgers winning most recently in 2018 with a 3-1 record.

The other game in the National League is between the Brewers (1st place in the Central Division) and Hiroki Matsui's Padres (2nd place in the West Division).

In the American League, Munetaka Murakami's White Sox (2nd place in the Central Division) defeated the Guardians (1st place in the Central Division) 3-0. Murakami played as ``number 4 and first base'' and in the fourth inning, he hit a 2-run lead over the right field, his first home run for PS.