Ohtani puts on 2-way Sho for the ages with 3 homers and 10 Ks to lead Dodgers back to World Series

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Shohei Ohtani's third home run rocketed off his bat and streaked toward the left-field bleachers, the few fans still sitting at Dodger Stadium rose frantically, as if every single seat in the sold-out building had received a shock.

At the plate and on the mound, Ohtani was simply electrifying in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series while he conjured one of the greatest single-game performances in baseball history — perhaps even all of sports.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way superstar delivered the 13th three-homer game in postseason annals Friday night, connecting in the first, fourth and seventh innings for three epic solo shots traveling a combined 1,342 feet.

He was similarly brilliant on the mound, throwing scoreless, two-hit ball into the seventh inning with 10 strikeouts and a masterful variety in his 100 pitches.

Ohtani also did it all at an extraordinarily important moment for his team: The Dodgers' 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers sent the defending champions back to the World Series with a four-game sweep of the majors' best regular-season squad.

“That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s been a lot of postseason games. And there’s a reason why he’s the greatest player on the planet. What he did on the mound, what he did at the bat, he created a lot of memories for a lot of people.”

After the raucous postgame celebration of the Dodgers’ second straight NL pennant since he joined the club, Ohtani attempted to deflect some of the spotlight to his teammates.

“There were times during the postseason where Teo (Teoscar Hernández) and Mookie (Betts) picked me up, and this time around, it was my turn to be able to perform,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “And I think just looking back over the course of the entire postseason, I haven’t performed to the expectation, but I think today we saw what the left-handed hitters could do.”

One left-handed hitter in particular carried the Dodgers to the World Series — and Ohtani, who reached base four times in four plate appearances, even identified the perfect capper to his historic evening.

“This is really a team effort, so I hope everybody in LA and Japan and all over the world can enjoy a really good sake,” said Ohtani, a connoisseur of the famed Japanese rice wine, while the crowd roared.

Ohtani earned the NLCS MVP award almost solely on the strength of this one iconic game. He was 2 for 11 with a triple and three walks in the first three games of the series.

He had been in an October slump by his lofty standards, going 6 for 38 in the postseason and sitting on an eight-game homer drought after hitting a franchise-record 55 in the regular season.

That's the nature of Ohtani's boundless talent, however: He can transform into a sporting superhero seemingly whenever he chooses, and the mound was his telephone booth in Game 4.

“The way he was struggling this postseason, and not to let it affect him and keep his psyche, his confidence, the same, is really impressive,” Roberts said. “So we knew that he was going to come through at some point. And what better night to do it while he was pitching, too."

After Ohtani struck out three Brewers in the top of the first inning, he hit the first leadoff homer by a pitcher in major league history during the bottom half — and his night of incredible feats was just beginning.

His second homer was a jaw-dropping, 469-foot drive that cleared the pavilion roof in right-center — a place where few homers ever land — after leaving his bat at 116.9 mph.

His seventh-inning shot settled in the left-center bleachers and crushed the Brewers, who had finally chased him from the mound by getting two runners on in the top of the inning, only to go scoreless anyway when reliever Alex Vesia escaped the jam.

The three-time MVP is the first player with a three-homer postseason game since Chris Taylor did it for the Dodgers in October 2021. Kiké Hernández, Ohtani’s current teammate, also accomplished the feat for Los Angeles in the 2017 NLCS.

Ohtani became the third pitcher and first in 87 years to hit three homers in a game in which he was a starting pitcher, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The others were Jim Tobin for the Boston Braves on May 13, 1942, and Guy Hecker for Louisville on Aug. 15, 1886.

Ohtani, who hadn’t gone deep since hitting two in Los Angeles’ playoff opener against Cincinnati, is the first Dodgers player with two multihomer games in one postseason. He also became the first player with two homers in any game with 116 mph or higher exit velocity since Statcast started tracking in 2015.

And the right-hander was outstanding on the mound as well.

He issued two early walks but didn't allow a hit until Jackson Chourio led off the fourth with a ground-rule double. Ohtani stranded him with a grounder and two strikeouts.

He got two more punchouts in the fifth and sixth, with Dodgers fans rising for ovations each time he walked back to the dugout to exchange his glove for a bat.

While his two-way role requires extensive off-field work to stay ready for both jobs, Ohtani had pitched in only two games over the past 30 days before Game 4, thanks to the permutations of the Dodgers' schedule.

In his last regular-season start, Ohtani pitched six scoreless innings of five-hit ball against Arizona on Sept. 23, throwing a season-high 91 pitches. In his MLB postseason mound debut Oct. 4, he gave up three runs over six innings with nine strikeouts to earn the victory in Los Angeles' 5-3 win at Philadelphia in the Division Series opener.

Ohtani also had the motivation of matching his fellow Dodgers starters, who have been phenomenal on the mound ever since the playoff race got serious.

The Dodgers' rotation held batters in September to an MLB record-low .173 average for a single month. Since the postseason began, Los Angeles' four starting pitchers — Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani — have allowed just 10 earned runs while pitching 64 1/3 innings with 81 strikeouts over their 10 playoff games.

Ohtani and the Dodgers have earned a week off before the World Series begins next Friday at either Toronto's Rogers Centre against the Blue Jays or Chavez Ravine against the Seattle Mariners.

This club has struggled with long layoffs in past postseasons, but Ohtani acknowledged he can use a break — and the Dodgers will spend at least the next couple of days basking in the brilliance they witnessed while punching their ticket to the Fall Classic.

“I do see it as a positive in terms of being able to rest, both as a position player and as a pitcher,” Ohtani said. “We’ve had some off days, but we’ve played some very meaningful games that were very stressful.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani celebrates the end of the top of the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani celebrates his home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning in Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani celebrates their win against the Milwaukee Brewers in baseball's National League Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles.(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani celebrates after a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning in Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani watches his home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning in Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani hits a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning in Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning in Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani hits a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning in Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani wait for the start of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

The New York Giants hired John Harbaugh as coach on Saturday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced. The sides began working on a contract Wednesday night when it became clear that Harbaugh was the right fit.

Harbaugh joins the Giants 11 days after he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens, who made the playoffs 12 times with him in charge and won the Super Bowl in the 2012 season. They fell short of the postseason this year because of a missed kick at the buzzer in Week 18, leading ownership to make an change and put Harbaugh on the market.

General manager Joe Schoen and the Giants pounced, bringing on a proven winner with significant NFL head-coaching experience. Harbaugh was flown in on co-owner Steve Tisch’s private plane earlier this week, spent several hours at the team facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey, spoke with young quarterback Jaxson Dart and got wined and dined at nearby Elia Mediterranean Restaurant.

With the courting process complete, Harbaugh is now tasked with turning around the beleaguered franchise that has made just two playoff appearances over the past 12 years and not made it past the divisional round. Todd Monken could follow him from Baltimore to be offensive coordinator, unless he takes a head-coaching gig in Cleveland or elsewhere.

Harbaugh got the job over the likes of Kevin Stefanski, Mike McCarthy, Raheem Morris and Antonio Pierce, leapfrogging some of expected front-runners who got shuffled back as soon as the 63-year-old became available. The chance to work for stable ownership and Dart made New York an attractive landing spot over other places such as Tennessee, Atlanta and Miami.

The Giants have talented pieces in place on either side of the ball, including running back Cam Skattebo, receiver Malik Nabers and left tackle Andrew Thomas on offense, plus pass rushers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence on defense. They have the fifth pick in the draft to add to that stockpile.

Changing the culture of losing that has pervaded the Meadowlands for the better part of the last decade is now on Harbaugh’s shoulders. Counting playoff games, the seven coaches who followed 2007 and ’11 Super Bowl champion Tom Coughlin have gone 45-105-1, a winning percentage of .300.

Harbaugh is 193-124 in 317 games in the league, a .609 winning percentage, since taking over the Ravens in 2008. He spent the previous 10 seasons as an assistant with Philadelphia, mostly as special teams coordinator and then defensive backs coach.

Schoen, after finding out from Tisch and co-owner John Mara that he was returning for a fifth year as GM, said the search would not be limited to just offensive- or defensive-minded options. While Harbaugh comes from a special teams background, he provides the kind of all-around coaching Schoen was believed to be looking for, along with a championship pedigree and a reputation that should garner him immediate respect within the locker room.

This is Schoen’s second hire after bringing Brian Daboll with him from Buffalo, where both were assistants with the Bills, in January 2022. Ownership fired Daboll on Nov. 10 after the Giants lost eight of the first 10 games in his fourth season as coach.

Mike Kafka coached out the string as the interim replacement after being promoted from offensive coordinator, and the team lost five in a row before winning its final two games to finish with a 4-13 record. Kafka interviewed but was never a serious candidate for the full-time job.

Almost no one was compared with Harbaugh, giving the Giants an off-field win that might be their biggest of any kind in several years.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

FILE - Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh looks on from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams, File)

FILE -Baltimore Ravens owner Stephen J. Bisciotti, right, holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy as he and head coach John Harbaugh celebrate the team's 34-31win against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

FILE - Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh speaks during a press conference after an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh speaks during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)