Shohei Ohtani propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers back to the World Series with a two-way performance for the ages.
Shohei Ohtani propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers back to the World Series with a two-way performance for the ages.
Ohtani hit three mammoth homers and struck out 10 while pitching shutout ball into the seventh inning, and the Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers out of the National League Championship Series with a 5-1 victory in Game 4 on Friday night.
„That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time“, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. „There’s been a lot of postseason games. And there’s a reason why he’s the greatest player on the planet.“
The Dodgers will have a chance to become baseball’s first repeat World Series champions in a quarter-century after this mind-blowing night for the three-time MVP, who emphatically ended a quiet postseason by his lofty standards. Ohtani was selected the NLCS MVP essentially on the strength of this one unforgettable game.
„This time around it was my turn to be able to perform“, he said through his interpreter.
After striking out three in the top of the first inning, Ohtani hit the first leadoff homer by a pitcher in major league history off Brewers starter Jose Quintana.
Ohtani followed with a 469-foot drive in the fourth, clearing a pavilion roof in right-center.
He added a third solo shot in the seventh, becoming the 12th big league player to hit three homers in a postseason game. His three homers traveled a combined 1,342 feet.
Ohtani also thoroughly dominated the Brewers in his second career postseason start on the mound, allowing two hits in his first double-digit strikeout game in a Dodgers uniform. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth, and he fanned two Brewers in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
„Sometimes you’ve got to check yourself and touch him to make sure he’s not just made of steel“, said teammate Freddie Freeman, last season’s World Series MVP.
