Shohei Ohtani delivered one of baseball's most electrifying single-game performances in Game 4 of the NLCS, hitting three solo home runs and throwing nearly seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts. His heroics secured a 5-1 victory for the Los Angeles Dodgers, completing a four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers and sending them to the World Series.
In a performance hailed by manager Dave Roberts as 'probably the greatest postseason performance of all time,' Shohei Ohtani single-handedly propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to the World Series. In Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani, the Dodgers' two-way superstar, connected for three epic solo home runs in the first, fourth, and seventh innings, traveling a combined 1,342 feet. This marked the 13th three-homer game in postseason history and made him the third pitcher, and first in 87 years, to hit three homers in a game he started. Equally brilliant on the mound, Ohtani threw scoreless, two-hit ball into the seventh inning, recording 10 strikeouts with a masterful variety in his 100 pitches. His dominant display led the Dodgers to a 5-1 victory, completing a four-game sweep of the majors' best regular-season squad and clinching their second straight NL pennant. Despite being in a postseason slump by his lofty standards (6 for 38 with an eight-game homer drought), Ohtani transformed, earning the NLCS MVP award almost solely on the strength of this iconic game. He became the first player to hit a leadoff homer as a pitcher in MLB history and recorded two homers with 116 mph or higher exit velocity, a Statcast first. Ohtani downplayed his individual achievement, emphasizing it was a team effort and expressing hope for a good sake celebration. The Dodgers now enjoy a week off before the World Series, a break Ohtani views as beneficial for rest after a stressful postseason.
