The German baseball professional Max Kepler has lost the first playoff duel with defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Through the 3: 5 in Citizens Bank Park at home, the Phillies, one of the best four teams in the MLB main round, are already under great pressure. The Dodgers around Superstar Shohei Ohtani still need two victories.
The Japanese wrote history in Philadelphia: As the first player in the history of the Major League Baseball (MLB), he started a game as a pitcher and one as a non-pitcher in a single playoff season. After initial nervousness, Ohtani increased, but the decisive man of the evening was Teoscar Hernández with his Homerun in the seventh inning.
Ohtani (31) led the Dodgers to the World Series against the New York Yankees (4: 1) last season, but was only used as a hitter (Schlagmann) after an operation on the elbow. In Philadelphia he first ran into the MLB playoffs as a pitcher (thrower). “We will continue to witness the story,” Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts was amazed.
Born in Berlin, Max Kepler (32) has been playing for the Phillies since this season. Previously, he was under contract with the Minnesota Twins for ten years. Philadelphia hopes for the third win of the World Series after 1980 and 2008. The second game of the best-of-five series takes place again in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.