On an electric Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Shohei Ohtani delivered a performance that defied belief, left his teammates in awe, and sent the Los Angeles Dodgers back to the World Series. October 17, 2025, will be forever remembered as the night Ohtani etched his name into baseball lore with a display of two-way brilliance unmatched in the sport’s long history. The Dodgers’ 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series completed a dominant sweep, but it was Ohtani’s singular feat that stole the headlines and hearts of fans everywhere.
Forget, for a moment, the three MVP awards, the World Series ring, and even the only 50-50 season Major League Baseball has ever seen. What unfolded at Chavez Ravine was, as many described, "The Ohtani Game." Despite a quiet start to the NLCS, Ohtani erupted in Game 4, launching three home runs and striking out 10 batters over six scoreless innings—a combination never before achieved in the annals of MLB.
From the first pitch, it was clear something extraordinary was brewing. Ohtani took the mound for his second career postseason start, facing the top of the Brewers’ order. He worked around a leadoff walk to Brice Turang by striking out Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, and William Contreras in succession. Chourio and Yelich were both frozen by fastballs clocking in over 100 mph, while Contreras was dispatched with a wicked 87.6-mph sweeper. The Dodgers’ ace was dialed in, setting the tone for a night that would quickly become the stuff of legend.
But Ohtani’s responsibilities didn’t end with a dominant inning on the mound. He swapped his glove for a bat and, leading off against Brewers starter José Quintana, promptly smashed a 446-foot home run at 115.6 mph deep into the right-field pavilion. The crowd of 52,883 erupted, sensing they were witnessing something special. Dodgers president Stan Kasten later remarked, "When the starting pitcher strikes out the side and then goes and hits a home run, you think, 'Whoa, this is something special.'"
The Brewers’ pitching staff, already on its heels, tried to adjust. But Ohtani was relentless. In the fourth inning, facing reliever Chad Patrick, he obliterated a cutter 469 feet and 116.9 mph—sending the ball completely out of Dodger Stadium. It was a jaw-dropping moment, drawing gasps and cheers in equal measure. Ohtani wasn’t done. In the seventh, after exiting the mound to a standing ovation, he returned to the plate and ripped a 113.6-mph line drive over the center field wall for his third homer of the night, putting the Dodgers up 5-0.
On the mound, Ohtani was equally untouchable. He finished with six innings pitched, 10 strikeouts, three walks, and just two hits allowed—both singles. His seven-pitch mix kept the Brewers guessing all night. No other player in MLB history has combined three home runs and 10 strikeouts in a single game, postseason or otherwise. As Dodgers utility man Enrique Hernandez put it, "There's only one person who can do that in the world, and in the history of this game, and it's him."
Ohtani’s postseason had been rocky up to this point. He entered Game 4 with only three hits and 14 strikeouts in his previous 29 at-bats, leading to speculation about whether his two-way role was taking a toll. Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates suggested that focusing on pitching actually freed Ohtani at the plate. "It let him go be an athlete in the box," Bates said. "It let him just play baseball." Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman added, "No one puts more pressure on himself than Shohei."
His teammates were left searching for words to describe what they’d witnessed. Third baseman Max Muncy was unequivocal: "That's the single best performance in the history of baseball. I don't care what anyone says. Obviously, I don't know what happened a hundred years ago, but that's the single best performance I've ever seen in my life." Dodgers manager Dave Roberts echoed the sentiment: "That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time. There's a reason why he's the greatest player on the planet."
Ohtani’s heroics capped a remarkable turnaround for the Dodgers. After a blistering 23-10 start, Los Angeles played .500 ball for much of the season, hampered by injuries and inconsistency. A September team meeting in Baltimore, called by Roberts, helped spark a late surge—15 wins in their final 20 games. The momentum carried into October, where the Dodgers breezed past the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card round, dispatched the Philadelphia Phillies in four NL Division Series games, and then stifled the top-seeded Brewers, holding them to just four runs and 14 hits in 36 innings. The Dodgers’ starting rotation—Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Ohtani—combined for a microscopic 0.63 ERA in the NLCS.
"We knew going into October that the strength of our club was going to be our starters," Friedman said. "For them to do what they did eclipsed even our expectations." In 10 playoff games, the Dodgers went 9-1 with a 1.40 ERA, becoming the first team since the 2009 Phillies to return to the World Series the year after winning it. They joined an elite group—just the fifth team ever to win nine of their first 10 postseason games, alongside the 2014 Royals, 2005 White Sox, 1999 Yankees, and 1995 Braves.
For the Brewers, the night was a harsh ending to an otherwise stellar season. Their players and staff could only tip their caps to Ohtani’s unprecedented display. As the final out was recorded, MVP chants echoed through Dodger Stadium, a fitting tribute to the man who had just redefined what’s possible on a baseball field.
With the Dodgers now poised for another shot at the championship, all eyes turn to Shohei Ohtani and whether he can conjure more magic on the game’s biggest stage. After a night like this, who would dare bet against him?
