Shohei Ohtani does it all to send Dodgers back to World Series

LOS ANGELES — The Sho’ on the mound was great, and the one at the plate even better. All of it spelled maybe the most dominant single-game performance by a player in postseason history. 

Shohei Ohtani owned the Brewers from the batter’s box and pitching rubber Friday, sending the Dodgers to the World Series with a 5-1 victory in Game 4 of the NLCS to complete the series sweep. 

Ohtani blasted three homers and fired six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in helping the Dodgers secure a second straight NL pennant and fifth in nine years. Ohtani became the first player in MLB history, regular season or postseason, with a three-homer game as a hitter with 10 strikeouts as a pitcher. 

The Dodgers, who are 9-1 this postseason, are within four victories of becoming the first team since the Yankees in 2000 to win a second straight World Series title. The Yankees won three straight titles from 1998-2000. 

The Dodgers will face either the Mariners or Blue Jays in the World Series beginning Friday. If the Mariners advance, the series will open at Dodger Stadium. Otherwise, the series will open in Toronto. 

Ohtani’s gem from the mound was just the latest by a Dodgers pitcher. Overall, the Dodgers allowed only four runs in the four games. Blake Snell’s shutout over eight innings in Game 1 — in which he faced the minimum 24 batters — set the standard, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani all had superb outings. 

Ohtani pitched into the seventh but was removed after Christian Yelich walked to begin the inning and William Contreras singled. Alex Vesia entered and got three outs without a run scoring to keep Ohtani’s line unblemished, with six scoreless innings. Ohtani allowed two hits and walked three over 100 pitches, departing to chants of “MVP.” 

In sweeping the series, the Dodgers hardly bludgeoned the baseball, outscoring the Brewers 15-4. 

Jose Quintana lasted only two-plus innings for the Brewers and was removed after allowing the first two batters to reach in the third. The lefty, who spent the previous two seasons with the Mets, allowed three earned runs on six hits with one walk. 

Ohtani’s homer leading off in the first got the Dodgers started before Mookie Betts and Will Smith delivered consecutive singles. Tommy Edman’s RBI single extended the lead and Teoscar Hernández’s groundout placed the Brewers in a 3-0 hole. 

Blake Perkins walked leading off the third against Ohtani, but his brain cramp on the bases cost the Brewers: Perkins was late retreating to first on Brice Turang’s fly to left field, completing an inning-ending double play that started with Enrique Hernandez’s catch. 

Ohtani launched a 469-foot rocket for a homer in the fourth that gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. The two-homer game was Ohtani’s second this postseason — he also accomplished the feat in the Dodgers’ victory over the Reds in Game 1 of the NL wild-card series. 

Trevor Megill surrendered Ohtani’s third homer of the night, a blast to left-center in the seventh after Ohtani had been removed as a pitcher in the top of the inning to widen the lead to 5-0. 

Ohtani became the 11th player in MLB postseason history with a three-homer game. Chris Taylor was the last Dodgers player to accomplish the feat, with three homers against the Braves in Game 5 of the NLCS in 2021. 

Roki Sasaki entered in a non-save situation in the ninth and got the final three outs, commencing the celebration as “I Love LA” blared through the stadium speakers. The Dodgers also clinched their World Series berth last year at home, beating the Mets in Game 6 of the NLCS.