Ohtani's 3 HR, 10-K gem powers Dodgers to NLCS sweep of Brewers.

 LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts stood on the Dodger Stadium field Friday night, wearing a World Series cap and grinning from ear to ear. The crowd roared around him, still buzzing from the Dodgers’ National League Championship Series sweep of the Brewers. Betts summed it up perfectly.

“It’s like we’re the Chicago Bulls,” he said. “And he’s Michael Jordan.”

The “he” was, of course, Shohei Ohtani — the man who once again redefined what’s possible in baseball. On the mound, Ohtani was electric: six scoreless innings, 10 strikeouts, just two hits allowed. At the plate? Even more absurd — three towering home runs, one of which nearly left Dodger Stadium entirely.

When the dust settled on a 5–1 Dodgers victory that clinched their second straight pennant, Ohtani’s teammates were left speechless.

“Some human, huh?” said utility man Enrique Hernández, shaking his head.

Ohtani, named NLCS MVP, had been nearly invisible for the first three games of the series. Yet on this night, he delivered what many called the greatest individual performance in baseball history.

Third baseman Max Muncy didn’t hesitate to call it:

“That’s the single best performance in the history of baseball. I don’t care what anyone says. Maybe I wasn’t around a hundred years ago, but that’s the best I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Breaking Free from the Slump

Heading into Game 4, Ohtani was mired in a deep slump — just three hits and 14 strikeouts in his previous seven games. Some wondered if trying to pitch and hit in the postseason was finally catching up with him.

But according to Dodgers brass, the dual focus actually helped him.

“No one puts more pressure on himself than Shohei,” said team president Andrew Friedman.

Hitting coach Aaron Bates agreed:

“Focusing on pitching took his mind off hitting. It let him relax. It let him just play baseball.”

And play he did. Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to hit two — let alone three — home runs as a pitcher in a postseason game. He hit more homers than hits allowed, an achievement only four other pitchers have ever matched since 1893 — and all four threw no-hitters.

Making Baseball History

From the first pitch, it was clear Ohtani had brought his best. After a leadoff walk in the first, he struck out the next three Brewers — two of them on 100 mph fastballs. Then, moments later, he stepped into the batter’s box and launched a 446-foot home run into the night.

“When your starting pitcher strikes out the side and then goes deep, you know you’re watching something special,” said Dodgers president Stan Kasten.

In the fourth inning, Ohtani crushed another — a 469-foot moonshot over the right-center bleachers. By the time he stepped off the mound in the seventh to a standing ovation from 52,000 fans, he had struck out 10. The crowd chanted “MVP” as he returned to the plate — and he delivered again, smashing his third homer, a 113.6 mph laser to center field.

“That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time,” said manager Dave Roberts. “There’s a reason he’s the greatest player on the planet.”

Dodgers Find Their Groove

After a sluggish regular season, the Dodgers rediscovered their spark in September — and have been unstoppable since. Their rotation, led by Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Ohtani, has been lights out, combining for a 0.63 ERA in the NLCS.

The Dodgers are now 9–1 in the postseason and the first team since the 2009 Phillies to return to the World Series after winning it the year before.

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Talent

Since baseball moved the mound to its current distance in 1893, over 1,500 pitchers have recorded 10 strikeouts in a game. More than 500 hitters have hit three home runs in one. Only one man has ever done both in the same night.

“There’s only one person on Earth who can do that,” said Hernández. “And it’s him. He’s Shohei Ohtani for a reason.”