Shohei Ohtani a part of MLB postseason history with Dodgers teammate  

Also serving as the Dodgers' designated hitter, Ohtani was 0-for-4 with a walk in the NLDS series opener. 

Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani makes MLB history

But Ohtani winning and recording nine strikeouts in his first career postseason start isn't the only reason why history was made. Los Angeles closer and fellow Japanese native Roki Sasaki shut the door for the save. 

Sasaki tossed a scoreless ninth inning, giving just one hit and registering one strikeout. He earned the first save of his young MLB career.  

Ohtani and Sasaki became the first Japanese-born starter/reliever combo to earn both the win and the save in the same postseason game.

Saturday marked only Sasaki's second appearance in a playoff game. The rookie, who only appeared in 10 regular-season games, has yet to allow a run against him in his two outings combined. Sasaki made his postseason debut on Oct. 1 in the National League wild-card round against the Cincinnati Reds, striking out two and throwing 11 total pitches. 

Back to Ohtani, he entered the postseason after registering a .282 batting average with 55 home runs, 102 RBI, 146 runs scored, 20 stolen bases, a .392 on-base percentage and a .622 slugging percentage as a hitter. And as a pitcher, going 1-1 with 62 strikeouts and a 2.87 ERA. All in all, Ohtani was a 7.7 bWAR for the 2025 regular season. 

The Dodgers will now have to wait until Game 2 gets underway on Monday to try to make more history and take a commanding 2-0 series lead.