Shohei Ohtani homers to lead off NLCS Game 4 for Dodgers against Mets

NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani made his point.

After Ohtani helped cap the Los Angeles Dodgers' Game 3 win in the NL Championship Series with a three-run, eighth-inning homer, teammate Freddie Freeman gave the Japanese star what sounded like some good-natured ribbing.

“Freddie talked to me to make sure that I joined the party earlier than later,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.

So after Ohtani drove Jose Quintana's second pitch into the New York Mets bullpen in right-center field in Game 4, Ohtani aimed a finger at the Los Angeles dugout as he left the batter's box.

“I was able to do that this time in my first at-bat,” he said Thursday night after a 10-2 victory gave the Dodgers a 3-1 series lead and moved then one win from a World Series trip.

Ohtani took Quintana's first pitch for a ball, then drove a sinker over the middle of the plate 422 feet for his third postseason homer. The likely NL MVP began the night 0 for 22 in the postseason when batting with nobody on base and 7 for 9 with two homers and eight RBIs when hitting with runners aboard.

“I think it was bigger for Sho just getting a hit with no one on base,” teammate Max Muncy said. “Pretty wild numbers.”

Ohanti hit the seventh leadoff homer in Dodgers postseason history.

“He just has a superpower that you and me can’t do,” teammate Mookie Betts said this week.

The 117.8 mph drive was the third-hardest-hit postseason home run since Statcast started tracking in 2015, after Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber in last year's NLCS (119.7 mph) and the New York Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton in a 2020 AL Division Series (118.3 mph).

“I can’t even hit the ball that hard with an aluminum bat and Shohei is doing it,” Freeman said.

Quintana hadn't allowed a home run in his previous eight starts since Aug. 20.

Ohtanti's postseason stats are rather muted by his standards: a .235 average, three homers, nine RBIs, nine walks and no stolen bases.

He led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs in his first season with the Dodgers after signing a record $700 million, 10-year contract and stole 54 bases to become the first 50-homer, 50-steal player. Still recovering from elbow surgery in September 2023, the two-way star isn't pitching this year.

Last week's decisive fifth game win over San Diego in the Division Series was the most-watched Major League Baseball postseason game on record in Japan, averaging an estimated 12.9 million viewers, according to MLB.

Ohtani's latest home run was hit at just after 9 a.m. Tokyo time.

“I’m sure it’s not easy for the people in Japan to be able to watch these games because of the time difference.” Ohtani said.

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