Ohtani's Historic Two-Way Masterpiece Sends Dodgers Back to Fall Classic

Shohei Ohtani makes history with a 3-home run, 10-strikeout performance, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to an NLCS sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers and a return to the World Series.

By Luis Casas | October 18, 2025

LOS ANGELES — They’ve seen Koufax and Gibson. They’ve celebrated with Valenzuela and Kershaw. But on a cool October night under the Chavez Ravine lights, they witnessed something entirely new, something that defied every convention of the sport. Shohei Ohtani didn’t just pitch and hit; he authored a singular, historic performance that has already been christened with the only name that fits: The Shohei Game.

With three titanic home runs and 10 dominant strikeouts from the mound, Ohtani propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, completing an NLCS sweep and sending a message to the baseball world that echoes from here to the World Series: You are witnessing a force of nature unlike any other.

“Sometimes you’ve got to check yourself and touch him to make sure he’s not just made of steel,” said Freddie Freeman, last year’s World Series MVP, shaking his head in the champagne-soaked clubhouse. “Biggest stage, and he goes out and does something like that. It’ll probably be remembered as the Shohei Ohtani game.”

He wasn’t wrong. The numbers are so staggering they read like fiction. Ohtani is the first player in MLB history to hit two-plus homers as a pitcher in a postseason game. He is the first player ever to have more homers (3) than hits allowed (2) in a postseason start. And after striking out the side in the top of the first, he became the first pitcher in major league history—regular season or postseason—to lead off the bottom of an inning with a home run.

“It was really fun on both sides of the ball today,” Ohtani said through his interpreter with characteristic understatement. “As a representative, I’m taking this trophy, and let’s get four more wins.”

A Symphony of Power and Precision

The game was a masterpiece from its first note. Ohtani, whose postseason had been relatively quiet by his otherworldly standards, set the tone by mowing down the Brewers’ heart of the order in the top of the first. Then, he stepped into the batter’s box.

The crack of the bat on Jose Quintana’s third pitch was instantaneous and decisive, a line drive that refused to land until it was well beyond the left-field wall. The stadium erupted, but it was merely the opening act.

His second blast, a 469-foot nuclear launch in the fourth inning that cleared the pavilion in left field, was a statement of pure, unadulterated power. The third, a solo shot in the seventh, was the exclamation point, making him just the 12th player ever to hit three homers in a playoff game. Combined, they traveled a staggering 1,342 feet.

All the while, he was dealing on the mound. His fastball painted the black, his splitter dove off a table, and his slider left Brewers hitters waving at ghosts. He allowed just two hits and departed with two on in the seventh to a deafening, sustained ovation, his work complete.

A Dynasty's Defining Moment

For the Dodgers, this is more than a pennant. It’s the culmination of a vision to build a superteam around the game’s most superhuman talent. They are the first team to win back-to-back pennants since 2009 and are now poised to become the first repeat World Series champions since the Yankees’ three-peat from 1998-2000.

“I’ll tell you, before this season started, they said the Dodgers are ruining baseball,” manager Dave Roberts shouted to the roaring crowd during the on-field celebration. “Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball!”

The powerhouse Dodgers rampaged through the NL playoffs with a 9-1 record, and their starting rotation, led by Ohtani’s transcendent performance, combined to allow just two earned runs in 28.2 innings against a formidable 97-win Brewers team.

As the blue and white confetti fell, the only question left was not about the Dodgers’ place in history, but about which American League team would have the unenviable task of trying to solve the unsolvable. The Mariners and Blue Jays will decide that. But after The Shohei Game, one thing is certain: the road to the championship now runs directly through the left arm and the legendary bat of Shohei Ohtani.