Shohei Ohtani makes even more history in NLCS Game 4

The Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani turned in a historic performance in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, leading Los Angeles to a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and clinch a second straight trip to the World Series.

Ohtani, the starting pitcher and designated hitter, blew away Milwaukee with 10 strikeouts in six scoreless innings and three homers. Until tonight, no player in MLB history had hit three home runs in one game while hitting at least one, let alone 10. Ohtani became the first to achieve the feat.

The two-way sensation opened the game on the mound with a score in the top of the first, striking out three batters after the leadoff hitter walked. He quickly moved to the plate and launched a leadoff home run off Brewers starter Jose Quintana, traveling 446 feet at 116.5 mph. This made him the first pitcher in Major League history to hit a leadoff walk in a regular season or postseason and was the Dodgers’ first pitcher in the postseason. Remarkably, Ohtani hit a leadoff home run in the same scenario, in Game 4 at Quintana, exactly one year earlier, making him just the fourth player to hit the same pitcher on the same calendar day in multiple postseasons.

In the fourth inning, Ohtani added to his lead by hitting a 469-footer off Chad Patrickclearing the roof of the Desno polje pavilion. With an exit velocity of 116.9 mph, he became the only player since Statcast tracking began in 2015 to hit multiple home runs with an exit velocity of at least 116 mph in the same game. Later, after leaving the mound in the seventh with runners on base, Ohtani hit his third home run of the night, hitting 427 feet at 113.6 mph, becoming just the 12th player in MLB history to hit three homers in a postseason game, and the first pitcher to hit multiple home runs in the playoffs.

On the pitching side, the Japanese phenom struck out 10 batters while allowing just two hits and three walks over six-plus scoreless innings. He became one of only four Los Angeles pitchers to record at least 10 strikeouts in a scoreless postseason start of six or more innings, joining Sandy Koufax, Clayton Kershaw and Blake Snell. Ohtani also joined Don Newcomb as the only Dodgers pitchers to hit two home runs while striking out at least eight batters in the same game, and he is the only player to accomplish both feats in the postseason.

Ohtani’s performance also ended a quiet stretch at the plate. He’s just 3-for-29 (.103) since the start of the NLDS and hasn’t homered since a two-game home run in the Wild Card Series on Sept. 30. With his third career postseason hit, he tied Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins for second in MLB history, trailing only Kyle Schwarber.

The Los Angeles Brewers claimed their fifth NL pennant since 2017 as their pitching allowed just four runs in four games, tying the 1963 World Series record for fewest runs surrendered in a series of at least four games. Heading into Game 1 of the World Series on Friday, Oct. 24, the Dodgers will have to wait to find out the winner of the American League Championship Series, with the Seattle Mariners holding a 3-2 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays.