Dodgers Recap: Ohtani Single-Handedly Demolishes Brewers to Send LA to Fall Classic!

CHAVEZ RAVINE — Just wow. You think the guy would run out of ways to amaze us, but nope, he’s still got plenty of tricks up his sleeve. In one of the most remarkable nights in postseason history, Shohei Ohtani pitched six innings of shutout ball AND hit three gargantuan home runs to lead the Dodgers to a 5-1 closeout win over the Milwaukee Brewers. With the victory, the Dodgers secure a spot in the World Series for the second year in a row, and the fifth time in the last eight seasons. So yeah, kind of a good night in LA. Let’s go over how it all transpired.

It didn’t take long for the Dodgers to get rolling in this one. After Shohei struck out the side in the top of the first, he dug into the box against Brewers starter Jose Quintana. He worked the count full and then got a hanging slurve right in his wheelhouse. He turned on it, and faster than Bill Plaschke could erase his “Ohtani Sucks” column, the slump was over. The ball landed deep among the paying customers in right field and the Dodgers were on the board.

But the party didn’t stop there. Mookie Betts and Will Smith hit back-to-back singles and came around to score on an RBI knocks from Tommy Edman and a run-scoring infield groundout from Teoscar Hernandez. Dodgers’ fans had just settled into their seats, and they were treated to a 3-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Ohtani had the strikeout ptiched locked in. He pitched a 1-2-3 second, got help from a nifty 7-3 double play from Kike Hernandez in the third, and worked around a leadoff Jackson Chourio double in the fourth with back-to-back strikeouts to strand Chourio at third.

In the bottom of the fourth, Shohei had his third at-bat of the night, this one against Chad Patrick out of the pen. He took some pitches to get himself into a hitter’s count, and then absolutely pulverized a 3-1 slider, sending it deep to right field. And when I say deep, I mean DEEEEEEEEP. The ball cleared the awning of the pavilion, landing 469 feet from home plate. It was awe-inspiring. And it was good for a 4-0 lead.

But Ohtani wasn’t done. Natch, he pitched a few more innings of scoreless ball before turning the game over to the bullpen in the top of the seventh after a walk and a single. But Alex Vesia came in and promptly put out the fire, ending the threat on a double play on the infield. That ended Shohei’s night of pitching, and if that was all he accomplished, it would have been plenty: 6.0+ IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 K.

But thanks to the so-called “Ohtani Rule,” which allows Shohei to continue as DH even after being pulled from the game, he had another at-bat in the bottom of the seventh. And because he’s, you know, Shohei, he used it to give the fans one last thrill for the night. This time he connected on a four seamer from Trevor Megill that he hit to straightaway centerfield. At 427 feet, it was the pipsqueak of the evening’s homers, but it was his third of the night. That’s right, your boy hit THREE home runs. AND pitched a scoreless six innings. Not bad for $2 million bucks a year, huh?

The eighth and ninth were not clean from the pen, but with the lead supplied by Shohei, it hardly mattered. Blake Treinen and Anthony Banda gave up a run in the eighth, and Roki Sasaki gave up a single and some hard contact, but none of it mattered. This game belonged to the Dodgers.

And now, we wait. It’s going to be a whole week until your boys in blue get back in action. Opponent and Location still TBA, depending on the outcome of the ALCS. But for tonight, the season that was probably the most frustrating in the last ten years has ended, not with a whimper, but with a bang. Three of them, in fact.

On to the Fall Classic!

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