On the 15th anniversary of Roy Halladay's NLDS no-hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers were locked in a pitching duel of their own.
Until the seventh inning.
That's when the Dodgers' bats came alive, turning a scoreless game with three combined hits into a commanding 4-0 Los Angeles lead as the lineup finally got to Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo and the relievers who followed him.
Teoscar Hernandez singled to open the frame, marking the first Dodgers base runner since the first inning. Freddie Freeman followed him with a double to put runners on second and third with no one out, ending Luzardo's night.
Orion Kerkering came on in relief and got off to a promising start, striking out Tommy Edman. He also got Kiké Hernandez to break his bat and hit a weak ground ball. Trea Turner's throw home, however, was too far up the first base line for catcher JT Realmuto to tag a hustling Hernandez, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead with runners on first and third.
After Max Muncy walked and Andy Pages popped out, the Dodgers finally broke the game open thanks to clutch hits from Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani.
First, Smith, who didn't start the game, singled to left to score Freeman and Hernandez, making it 3-0 and chasing Kerkering.
Will Smith coming up CLUTCH for the Dodgers to make it 3-0 with the 2 RBI single 😤pic.twitter.com/Og66nEfHJi
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 7, 2025
Matt Strahm came on to face Ohtani, who was, to that point, hitless in the series. Ohtani knocked an 0-1 pitch into right-centerfield to bring home Muncy.
Shohei Ohtani adds on!
It's a four-run inning for the @Dodgers #NLDS pic.twitter.com/fVWEXYlAl9
— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2025
At that point, it became incumbent on the Dodgers bullpen to continue to keep the Phillies at bay. The Los Angeles relief corps threw three scoreless innings in Game 1 on Saturday, despite being the perceived weakness of the reigning champs.
The Phillies did get a run back in the 8th on an RBI single from Turner, but they still have work to do.