If there was any doubt if the Philadelphia Phillies had the right guy on the mound to start Game 1 of the NLDS, let there be none now. Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez got the ball to kick off a massive series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and delivered a gem to please the home crowd.

Sánchez became the obvious choice after the season-ending injury to ace Zack Wheeler. With the shock of losing their No. 1, Sánchez immediately became the Phillies’ top starter.

There were still questions about Sánchez’s ability to rise to the moment in such a pressure-filled environment, but he left little doubt after his masterful outing on Saturday night. He went toe-to-toe with Shohei Ohtani, who was making his postseason pitching debut.

Cristopher Sánchez took care of business on the mound despite the Phillies dropping Game 1

Sánchez’s dominance was apparent from the beginning, and he cruised through the first five scoreless innings. His only blip was the two runs he allowed in the sixth before being pulled. He finished his day with 5 2/3 innings pitched, four hits, two runs, two walks and eight strikeouts on 94 pitches. Seventeen of his first 24 pitches were strikes.

Unfortunately, the dominance from their starter wasn’t enough for the Phillies to hold down the Dodgers as they rallied to take the first game with a final score of 5-3.

Sánchez was as dominant as Phillies fans could have hoped for, given how hot the Dodgers were coming into Saturday. They swept the Reds in two games in the Wild Card round and were looking to give Sánchez a run for his money.

He didn’t let that happen and even kept this year’s NL MVP favorite completely silenced. Against Sánchez, Ohtani went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. His first one was on three pitches, while the other two were caught looking. According to MLB.com’s Paul Casella, Sánchez was just trying to treat it like any other game.

“To me, it’s just a regular matchup,” Sánchez said through an interpreter, per Casella. “I try to go out there and attack early on, and execute my plan. As I would do with every other hitter, I just want to follow my plan and get results.”

Sánchez also did the same against the Dodgers’ top four hitters. The combination of Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman went a combined 1-for-11 with six strikeouts against Sánchez.

While he did exactly what he needed to do to inject excitement at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies dropped an important Game 1, but there’s more of the series left. If the Phillies can extend the series, even by one game, Sánchez will get the ball again in a massive Game 4. Phillies fans will like their chances if they have their new ace getting the ball again to carry them.