LOS ANGELES – No one knew which version of the Dodgers would appear in Game 1 of the NLDS. The Padres, who fell to the Atlanta Braves in the wild-card round, had plenty of juice and cruised into this series with a quiet but palpable swagger. LA, on the other hand, was looking for theirs.

With the Dodgers announcing that longtime ace Clayton Kershaw would be sidelined for the remainder of the season and the unknown status of first baseman Freddie Freeman due to a recent ankle sprain, the atmosphere was not great going into the first pitch Saturday.

They didn’t get any better during the Padres’ three-run first inning, and when Manny Machado’s towering two-run shot gave San Diego an early 3-0 lead, it felt like not only the tone of the game, but the tone of the match. this series was set. The Dodgers had to respond – and quickly.

One inning later, that worked thanks to the bat of Shohei Ohtani.

Throughout this season filled with injuries and uncertainty among their starting staff, the Dodgers have always been able to count on their ability to grind. And in their 7-5 victory over the Padres in Game 1, LA’s star-studded lineup sent an essential message: This team, no matter how injured, should not be underestimated.

In the second inning, the Dodgers put on two guys, and you could feel the energy in the ballpark starting to buzz. Then Ohtani walked to the plate, hoping to give his team the boost it so desperately needed.

And in one fell swoop he did, crushing a 90-mph fastball for a sure-fire three-run home run to tie the game. As Ohtani threw his bat aside and let out a scream on his way to first base, it was clear he had flipped the script on the Padres.

“It just got us back the momentum and gave us life,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said afterward. “And I think from the first pitch the fans were just involved, involved. …I felt that energy. And I think Shohei feeds off that.”

Said Ohtani: “I’m very happy that I can tie the game in that situation and score a hit against a very good pitcher. (Padres starter Dylan Cease) is one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes…I was able to get to (the fastball) and was happy I could do that.

“Listen, he’s a good player,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said of Ohtani. “He’s obviously done some special things this year. I think it’s just about execution. You have to be even better against really good players.”

The Padres responded with two more runs in the third inning, but it didn’t matter. It was as if, thanks to that one swing from Ohtani, the LA lineup had renewed confidence, with the crowd now energized, alert and unfazed.

In the fourth, LA clawed its way back into the lead. Three consecutive singles by Tommy Edman, Miguel Rojas and Ohtani, followed by a wild pitch, accounted for another run for the Dodgers. That was followed by an intentional walk by Mookie Betts and a groundout by Freddie Freeman before Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run single of his own, making it a 6-5 game and giving the Dodgers the lead for good.

“It’s very difficult for a playoff team to come into the first game of the postseason and feel comfortable, especially after a long layoff,” Ohtani said afterward. “But I think everyone really contributed today – the whole team, especially the bullpen.”

The bullpen did indeed deliver for LA, pitching six scoreless innings after Yamamoto surrendered five earned runs in his three innings of work.

“I appreciate and enjoy the support,” said Yamamoto, who was making his MLB postseason debut and only his fifth start since returning from a shoulder injury. “I’m so happy that we finally won as a team.”

With Ohtani as the spark, the Dodgers started this series against San Diego with a bang. What could have been a gut punch for the Padres instead turned into a win on home court, one they were able to secure even without a stellar performance from their starter.

Don’t get it confused: This Dodgers team is built on offense, and in Game 1 they showed exactly how they won 98 games in the regular season and exactly why, even without consistent pitching, this lineup has a chance every night . Ohtani, Betts and Freemen receive much of the hype, but Saturday’s win showcased the depth of LA’s lineup, which is firing on all cylinders. Six of the Dodgers’ nine starters had hits in the game, four of them multiple, and every starter reached base at least once.

“It’s just hard not to panic when you’re behind, especially in a postseason game,” Roberts said after the game. “You see a guy like Cease, who has really big stuff, and to be able to grind out at-bats, that’s the hardest part. … We did that all night, added up the pitch count, took him out of the game, went to their pen and looked at some guys. So that’s an honor for our guys.

“It’s experience. It is having confidence in the process.”

The Dodgers are now 70-13 this year when they score five or more runs. While their pitching has been anything but reliable this season, the offense’s ability to score in bunches — even and especially in the postseason, when scoring is tough — is a huge advantage over most teams.

Yes, the Dodgers will need better production from their starters, but having the safety net of this lineup certainly makes things easier.

“The first inning was definitely not ideal in terms of the first strike,” Roberts said. “But it was good to see that we showed some resilience, took a blow and responded the way we did. … It just really speaks to the character of this group. …

“We have to fight, and that’s what we did tonight.”