LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani had himself quite the first inning against the Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
His three strikeouts in the top half were impressive. His leadoff home run in the bottom half was historic.
And then, for good measure, he homered again in the fourth.
In providing his own early run support in the potential clincher, Ohtani became the first pitcher in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run — in either the regular season or the postseason. It was also the first home run by any Dodgers pitcher in postseason history.
The last postseason homer by a pitcher came when the Brewers and Dodgers faced off in the 2018 NLCS, with Brandon Woodruff taking Clayton Kershaw deep in Game 1.
Despite all the firsts, Ohtani’s solo shot off Brewers starter Jose Quintana still had a bit of a familiar feel to it. That’s because it was exactly one year ago to the day that Ohtani hit a leadoff home run … off Quintana (then with the Mets) … in Game 4 of the NLCS. Per Elias, Ohtani is the fourth player to homer off the same pitcher on the same calendar day in multiple postseasons, joining Justin Turner (off Max Scherzer, Oct. 7, 2016 and 2019), Manny Ramirez (off Cole Hamels, Oct. 15, 2008 and 2009) and Dusty Baker (off Steve Carlton, Oct. 8, 1977 and 1983).
Ohtani entered Friday just 3-for-29 (.103) since the start of the NLDS. He had not homered since his two-homer game in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series on Sept. 30.
Ohtani put an end to that drought with his third career postseason leadoff home run (which traveled a Statcast-projected 446 feet). That’s tied with Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins for the second most in MLB history, trailing only Kyle Schwarber (five).
Ohtani’s second blast traveled even farther, coming in at 469 feet and clearing the roof of the Right Field Pavilion. It made him the first pitcher in history with a multihomer postseason game.
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