Ohtani Slugs, Pitches His Way to 'Greatest Game in Baseball History'

When Shohei Ohtani's third home run rocketed off his bat, the few fans still sitting at Dodger Stadium rose frantically, as if every single seat in the sold-out building had received a shock. At the plate and on the mound, Ohtani was electrifying in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series while he conjured one of the greatest single-game performances in baseball history—perhaps even all of sports, reports the AP. The Washington Post headline is typical: "Shohei Ohtani just played the greatest game in baseball history." "Ohtani, the Greatest Shoh on Earth, just had the greatest game in baseball history," similarly crows the Athletic. The Dodgers' two-way superstar delivered the 13th three-homer game in postseason annals Friday night, connecting in the first, fourth, and seventh innings. He was similarly brilliant on the mound, throwing scoreless, two-hit ball into the seventh inning with 10 strikeouts and a masterful variety in his 100 pitches.

Ohtani also did it all at an extraordinarily important moment for his team: The Dodgers' 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers sent the defending champions back to the World Series with a four-game sweep of the majors' best regular-season squad. "That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time," Dodgers manager Dave 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."

After the raucous postgame celebration of the Dodgers' second straight NL pennant since he joined the club, Ohtani attempted to deflect some of the spotlight to his teammates. "There were times during the postseason where Teo (Teoscar Hernández) and Mookie (Betts) picked me up, and this time around, it was my turn to be able to perform," Ohtani said. Ohtani earned the NLCS MVP award almost solely on the strength of this one iconic game. He was 2 for 11 with a triple and three walks in the first three games of the series. Ohtani, who reached base four times in four plate appearances, even identified the perfect capper to his historic evening. "This is really a team effort, so I hope everybody in LA and Japan and all over the world can enjoy a really good sake," said Ohtani, a connoisseur of the famed Japanese rice wine, while the crowd roared.