Shohei Ohtani made a statement during the NL Championship Series, significantly contributing to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Game 3 victory with a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Following the game, teammate Freddie Freeman playfully nudged Ohtani to join the offensive party earlier in the series.
“Freddie talked to me to make sure that I joined the party earlier than later,” Ohtani shared through an interpreter.
In Game 4, Ohtani made good on Freeman’s advice by launching a powerful shot off Jose Quintana’s second pitch, sending it deep into the New York Mets bullpen in right-center field. As he left the batter’s box, Ohtani pointed toward the Dodgers’ dugout, signaling his intent to join in on the fun right from the start.
“I was able to do that this time in my first at-bat,” he remarked after the Dodgers secured a commanding 10-2 victory, giving them a 3-1 lead in the series and bringing them one win closer to the World Series.
Ohtani, who initially struggled in the postseason, took Quintana’s first pitch for a ball before crushing a sinker over the plate for a 422-foot homer—his third of the postseason. Before this game, he had been 0 for 22 in the playoffs when batting with no runners on base, but he boasted a remarkable 7 for 9 record with two homers and eight RBIs when runners were aboard.
