Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Becomes Second Pitcher Ever to Achieve Insane Feat

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) reacts in the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers during game four of the NLCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 17. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Shohei Ohtani managed to turn a potential clinching game in the National League Championship Series into the "Shohei Ohtani Game."

After starting the game by striking out the side in the top of the first inning, Ohtani greeted Milwaukee Brewers starter Jose Quintana with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first.

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No Dodgers pitcher had ever hit a home run in the postseason, and no pitcher had ever led off a game with a home run before Friday.

Ohtani wasn't done.

By the time the game was over, Ohtani had tossed six scoreless innings and hit three home runs. In so doing, Ohtani became the first pitcher since Jim Tobin in 1942 to hit three home runs in a single game.

Ohtani and Tobin are the only pitchers to achieve the feat in American or National League history.

Jim Tobin (regular season)🤝 Ohtani (NLCS) ... That's it. That's the 3-homers *and* pitched in the game list. pic.twitter.com/C3vzcBBe7j

— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) October 18, 2025

Ohtani finished 3 for 3 with three home runs and a walk in the breakthrough performance he and the Dodgers were waiting for. His second home run — a 469-foot blast to right-center field — had barely landed when some observers declared it the best individual performance in a postseason game ever.

Shohei Ohtani had an all-time great performance that will be talked about forever.

As a hitter: 3/3 with 3 home runs and a walk.

As a pitcher: 6.0 IP | 2 H | 0 ER | 10 Ks

The greatest player of all time. Just delivered a masterpiece to win NLCS MVP. pic.twitter.com/KqbXB9ItqP

— Doug McKain (@DMAC_LA) October 18, 2025

Even Tobin's three-homer game — in which he drove in four of the Boston Braves' six runs in a complete-game, 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs — came in a relatively meaningless May game.

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Ohtani began the best-of-seven NLCS with only two hits in his first 14 plate appearances. He had not homered since Game 1 of the Dodgers' Wild Card series against the Cincinnati Reds back on Sept. 30; he hit two home runs that day in the Dodgers' 10-5 victory.

The Dodgers didn't need Ohtani to carry the team during his mini-slump. The pitching performances by Blake Snell in Game 1, Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2, and Tyler Glasnow in Game 3 put them on the precipice of a four-game sweep.

Shohei Ohtani:

6 scoreless innings, 10 strikeouts...

And more home runs hit (3) than hits allowed (2).

In a postseason game, even. Sheesh.

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) October 18, 2025

Ohtani picked up where his teammates left off. In six scoreless innings, he allowed only two hits, walked three batters, and struck out 10. He induced 19 swings and misses, topped out at 100.3 mph — and hit 1,342 feet of home runs.

Ohtani's 469-foot home run in the fifth inning was only the third ever to clear the right field pavilion at Dodger Stadium.

Willie Stargell, Kyle Schwarber, Shohei Ohtani are the only players to clear the right field pavillion at Dodger Stadium. #NLCS #Dodgers https://t.co/OzCjiy8ew9

— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) October 18, 2025

The Dodgers defeated the Brewers, 5-1, to clinch their second World Series appearance in as many seasons. Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, Anthony Banda and Roki Sasaki allowed only one run over the game's final three innings to preserve the victory.

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