Dodgers home runs vs. Reds: Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez power Los Angeles to record night in Game 1 vs. Cincinnati

Daniel Mader

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Dodgers home runs vs. Reds: Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez power Los Angeles to record night in Game 1 vs. Cincinnati image

In the first postseason run of his career in 2024, Shohei Ohtani did win a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he was never at 100 percent health. In his second October stint, Ohtani already looks as locked-in as ever.

While his postseason pitching debut still awaits, Ohtani still got off to a blazing-hot start to the postseason on Tuesday night, leading L.A. to a thorough 10-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds to take a 1-0 lead in the NL Wild Card Series.

As Blake Snell worked through the Reds' lineup, the Dodgers tied a franchise record by blasting five home runs, including four combined from just two players.

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Here's a look at the Dodgers' five blasts against the Reds on Tuesday, including two from their top slugger.

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Dodgers home runs vs. Reds

Ohtani is fresh off of a 2025 regular season in which he posted career-highs in home runs, sending 55 baseballs over fences in his 158 games. As one of the most feared hitters in the game, he settled into the batter's box for his second career postseason run a little after 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday night.

Hunter Greene, the Reds' hard-throwing ace making his postseason debut, couldn't get four pitches past Ohtani before the slugger blasted one beyond the outfield walls. 

On a 100 mph fastball, Ohtani unloaded, hitting a line drive directly into Dodger Stadium's right-field seats for a leadoff home run.

According to MLB, Ohtani's leadoff homer was the hardest-hit home run off a 100-plus mph pitch in the Statcast era, which goes back to 2015. According to Sarah Langs, Ohtani's first home run was also his third career long ball off a pitch of at least 100 mph, which is the most of any player since 2008.

That was just the start of a great night for Los Angeles, though. In the bottom of the third, Teoscar Hernandez came to the plate with two runners in scoring position. He brought three runs home, sending a slider over the wall in left field.

The struggles for Greene continued still. The 26-year-old, an L.A. native and owner of a 2.76 ERA in the regular season, had allowed back-to-back home runs when Tommy Edman followed Hernandez with a pull-side dinger into right field.

The rout was already on for the defending World Series champs by then, but Hernandez and Ohtani wanted more. With his solo shot off Connor Phillips in the bottom of the fifth, Hernandez notched his second career multi-homer game in the postseason.

Shohei Ohtani came back up in the bottom of the sixth and got another pitch to drive, a sweeper that hung around the middle of the plate. He seems to take advantage of those mistakes every single time — and this was no different.

Ohtani hit his 57th total home run of the 2025 season, admiring a 454-foot shot that became the Dodgers' longest postseason homer since at least 2015. That homer was the Dodgers' fifth, matching their franchise record for single-game home runs in the postseason.

After each had two-homer nights to begin the Wild Card Series, needing just one more win to advance to the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies, Ohtani and Hernandez celebrated together.

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Shohei Ohtani postseason stats

Here's a look at Ohtani's updated postseason offensive numbers after Tuesday's game.

SeasonTeamGamesRunsHitsDoublesHRsRBIsWalksStrikeoutsAVGOBPSLGOPS
2024Dodgers16141413101322.230.373.393.767
2025Dodgers12202303.400.4001.6002.000
Totals: 17161615131315.242.375.485.860

Although Ohtani came out with his first World Series ring, he didn't dominate the 2024 postseason to the level he has in the remainder of his career. Health undoubtedly played a factor in that, as he was still recovering from elbow surgery and dealt with a a torn labrum in his left shoulder during the World Series.

Now seemingly at full-health, Ohtani may be hitting his full gear for the 2025 postseason, especially when he's coming off his best power season in MLB so far. 

Daniel Mader

Daniel Mader is a Content Producer for The Sporting News. He joined SN in 2024 as an editorial intern following graduation from Penn State University. He has previously written for Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, the Centre Daily Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Daily Collegian and LancasterOnline. Daniel grew up in Lancaster, Penn., with a love for baseball that’ll never fade, but could also talk basketball or football for days.