Even as he is on the verge of a second World Series and a fourth MVP award, the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar found a way to do something again that seemed impossible before he came to the MLB. Like striking out three guys and then homering in the same inning.
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In the first inning of Game 4 against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani took the mound for the second postseason start of his career and addressed a walk with three consecutive strikeouts against the most dangerous part of the Dodgers’ lineup.
Jackson Chourio? He went down swinging a 100.3 mph fastball. Cristiano Yelich? Frozen on a 100.2 mph fastball. William Conteras? Knocked down in three pitches, the last of them a nasty 87.6 mph sweeper.
Unlike any other starting pitcher in MLB, Ohtani’s responsibilities did not end after pitching a scoreless first inning. He proceeded to put on a batting helmet and hit a leadoff home run off his Brewers counterpart, Jose Quintana.
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And by “bat” we mean he hit the ball 446 feet and 115.6 mph deep into the right field pavilion of Dodger Stadium.
According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Ohtani is the first MLB pitcher to hit a leadoff home run in history, regular season or postseason.
The bad times continued for Quintana and the Brewers after that long ball, as hits by Mookie Betts and Will Smith set up two more runs to give Los Angeles a 3-0 lead at the end of the first inning.
(Rob Leiter via Getty Images)
Ohtani hasn’t had the best postseason, but that hasn’t stopped the Brewers from treating him as a Barry Bonds-level threat. They’ve thrown lefties at him at every opportunity, trying to keep him from getting hot.
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And on Friday, he broke through with his first home run since the wild-card round, single-handedly putting Milwaukee in a hole to start a must-win game. With the Dodgers already up 3-0 in this series after a trio of gems from their rotation, that’s just bad.