Ohtani sends Dodgers to World Series

Los Angeles, CA (News4usOnline) – You can’t make this stuff up. Shohei Ohtani couldn’t hit the side of a barn during most of this year’s postseason run by the Los Angeles Dodgers. His batting average for the playoffs wouldn’t be enough to buy shoelaces on a pair of tennis shoes. 

Pitching-wise, Ohtani really had not done anything spectacular leading up to his possible closing appearance in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS). Sure, he’d go a couple of innings during the regular season to get himself ready for the primetime season of the playoffs. 

But then Game 4 came around and Ohtani decided it was time to show up and show out against the Milwaukee Brewers. Ohtani struck out 10 Milwaukee batters in six innings of pitching. 

“The last several days, we did a pretty good job, as a starting pitcher, being able to get outs and be effective,” Ohtani said after the game. “And just looking at the entire lineup, my impression that I had was that it’s a very tough, effective lineup. Talking with Will Smith, we had a pretty good game plan going into the game and we were able to execute it.”

On the other side of the coin, he also blasted his way out of a perceived slump with three home runs in leading the Dodgers to a 5-1 series-clinching win against the Brewers. The Dodgers prevailed 4-0 in the best-of-seven series. 

Ohtani’s performance was one to behold, said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. 

“That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time,” Roberts said. “There’s been a lot of postseason games. And there’s a reason why he’s the greatest player on the planet.

“What he did on the mound, what he did at the bat, he created a lot of memories for a lot of people. So for us to have a game-clinching — to do it in a game-clinching game at home, wins the NLCS MVP, pretty special. I’m just happy to be able to go along for the ride.”

The first inning in Game 4 of the NLCS said all that you needed to know about the dominance of Ohtani. 

In some way, one might argue that it is also a reflection of the superiority of the Los Angeles Dodgers over their opponents this postseason.  

After walking the first batter he faced, Ohtani then dialed up the smoke and struck out the next three batters, closing out Milwaukee’s half of the inning. 

For an encore to his pitching prowess in that first inning, Ohtani kissed his .158 batting average for the postseason goodnight with a solo home run in his first at-bat. 

Two days earlier, Ohtani, speaking at a workout press conference, said his pitching was not the root cause of his recent ineffective hitting performance. 

“I don’t necessarily think that the pitching has affected my hitting performance,” Ohtani said. “Just on the pitching side, as long as I control what I can control, I feel pretty good about putting up results. On the hitting side, just the stance, the mechanics, that’s something that I do — it’s a constant work in progress. I don’t necessarily think so. It’s hard to say. Again, last year I was DHing full-time. This year, I started to incorporate pitching.”

Ohtani’s home run blast was symbolic, in terms of the Dodgers turning off the lights on the Brewers and the series as they embark on a back-to-back trip to the World Series. The Dodgers went on to score two more runs in the first inning. 

The journey for his team to get back to the World Series started way back in the spring, Roberts said prior to Game 4. 

“I think it all started certainly in Spring Training with this year’s club being prepared for this moment,” Roberts remarked. “I think it’s kind of what we kind of see the season is it doesn’t matter the circumstances, the situation, we have a certain way of approaching each day. So, from the first game of the series, first game of the postseason versus being up 3-0, it doesn’t change our outlook on today. We’re trying to play good baseball and win a game.”

By jumping out of the gate real quickly with those three runs in the first inning, the Dodgers appeared to have taken the pep out of Milwaukee’s step for the rest of the game. 

When Ohtani came up to the plate in the fourth inning and launched his second home run of the night, that was pretty much the straw that broke the camel’s back.  

If Milwaukee players were down from shock after Ohtani’s first home run, they looked despondent after his second blast. The theatrical part of the evening was Ohtani’s home runs, but it was his pitching that shut down the Brewers. 

Following behind fellow pitchers Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, who all pitched gems against Milwaukee, Ohtani gave the quartet a sweep with all four coming up with wins against the Brewers. 

The Dodgers now have the opportunity to win their second straight championship. The last team to win back-to-back championships was the New York Yankees, who won three in a row from 1998 to 2000. 

Featured Image Caption: Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani was the driving force in leading the team to the NL West Division title in 2024. Photo credit: Dennis J. Freeman / News4usonline