Shohei Ohtani Sends Dodgers to World Series With Historic Performance

Oct 17, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) reacts to his solo home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning of game four of the NLCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday in Game 4 of the NLCS, completing the sweep and securing a spot in the World Series.

The Dodgers rolled out Shohei Ohtani as the team's starting pitcher, who ended up using his lights-out stuff to get a ton of swings and misses. He finished the night with 10 strikeouts, allowing two hits and three walks.

Not only did he have a great game on the mound, but Ohtani also hit three massive home runs during the game, showing his two-way excellence.

Ohtani gave the Dodgers six innings of shutout baseball, handing the ball over to reliever Alex Vesia with two runners on base and no outs.

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Vesia managed to get out of the jam and kept the game scoreless.

Will Smith went 2-for-4, while Tommy Edman finished 1-for-3 with RBIs. The Dodgers held the Brewers to another underwhelming offensive display, failing to score runs in key situations.

Overall, it was Ohtani who stole the show, breaking history once again and showing his elite abilities on the mound and batters box.

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With his heroics, Ohtani became the first pitcher to lead off a game with a home run in the regular season or postseason. Also, he became the first pitcher in Dodgers history to hit a home run.

His performance is all the more remarkable considering his slash line of .158/.273/.368 heading into Friday's game.

“Shohei is not performing the way he would like or we would expect,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I just know how big of a part he is to this thing.”

Roberts, however, remained confident Ohtani would make his mark on the postseason.

"Very confident. I think this is his opportunity to make his mark on this series," Roberts said pregame. "And, so, we're going to see his best effort. So, I feel good that he's pitching for us. And there's going to be some serious focus and compete tonight."

He was getting called out by national and local media over his performance at the batter's box, but Game 4 quieted the noise. All three of his home runs were more than 400 feet.

In fact, one of his home runs went out of Dodger Stadium, becoming the second Dodger player to achieve such a feat.

For more Los Angeles Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.