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LOS ANGELES — There havenâ€t been many times during Shohei Ohtaniâ€s eight-year MLB career when the greatness of the undisputed best player in the world has been questioned. But given Ohtaniâ€s struggles at the plate this postseason — he was 6-for-38 entering Game 4 on Friday — questions about his effectiveness now that heâ€s back to pitching and hitting full-time had begun to surface.

When asked this week if pitching has started to affect his prodigious offense, leading to a dip in production, the three-time MVP didnâ€t seem thrilled with the questions, even though, considering his .158 average with two home runs, they had merit. And when Ohtani took batting practice this week in L.A., which he almost never does, it became clear that he felt the need to shake things up.

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In Game 4 of the NLCS, Ohtani had the look of a man with something to prove. And as it turned out, Game 4 — in which the Dodgers defeated the Brewers 5-1 to advance to the World Series — wasnâ€t just about the Dodgers winning the NL pennant. They were well on their way to doing that already, leading the series 3-0.

No, this game was about something more. This was Ohtaniâ€s chance to remind everyone watching that no baseball player in this world or the next is better than him. And he did it in a way that only he could: By putting together one of the greatest postseason performances in MLB history, hitting three home runs and tossing six shutout innings in the Dodgers†sweep-clinching victory over the Brewers.

“He woke up this morning to people calling him out for how poorly he had played in the [NLCS], and 12 hours later, heâ€s standing on the podium as the MVP,†Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “That says everything we need to know about him.â€

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The first task for Ohtani in Game 4 was to continue the Dodgers†trend of elite starting pitching. It was evident from the first frame that Ohtani was locked in on the mound, as his stuff looked electric against the middle of the Brewers†lineup.

After walking leadoff man Brice Turang, the Dodgers†right-hander and designated hitter blew a 100-mph fastball past Jackson Chourio for his first strikeout. He then struck out the next batter, Christian Yelich, on a 100-mph fastball painted on the outside corner. Finally, Ohtani ended the frame by getting William Contreras to swing through a sweeper for strikeout number three.

And then, having set the tone on the mound, it was time for Ohtani to make his presence felt at the plate. His first big swing of the night came in leading off the bottom of the first, as he unloaded on a hanging 3-2 curveball from José Quintana, depositing it deep into the right-field bleachers and giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. With that, Ohtani became the first pitcher in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run in the postseason.

“I felt like the last couple days, I felt pretty good at the plate,†Ohtani said afterward of his postseason slump. “And just because of the postseason, the sample size, the lack of — it’s just that I think the lack of performance really skews in this short period of time.â€

Having given himself and the Dodgers some breathing room, Ohtani, the pitcher, then settled in. Following his dominance in the first inning, his comfort with his full arsenal was on display in the next few frames. Because while Ohtani has a triple-digit fastball in his back pocket that he can use to blow by hitters, he also relied on his sweeper, cutter and signature splitter to keep Milwaukeeâ€s hitters off-balance.

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On the night, the Dodgers†starter induced 19 swing-and-misses, including five with his splitter. All five of those splitter whiffs came on strikeouts. It was arguably the best that pitch has looked during Ohtaniâ€s time as a Dodger.

“The Phillies [outing], he had a couple good ones in there,†Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said of the splitter. “But when he threw that first one to Contreras, [we] kind of knew — all right, we can start leaning on this, get them off the fastball. I think it just opened up everything else.â€

Having drawn a walk in the bottom of the second, Ohtani came back to the plate in the fourth with his confidence growing. Brewers rookie Chad Patrick was one of the best relievers in baseball this postseason, and he threw four quality innings in this contest, but even he couldnâ€t escape the greatness of Ohtani.

On an 89.3-mph cutter from Patrick, the Dodgers†superstar crushed a titanic, 469-foot blast off the roof of the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium, and this time, he took a little extra time to admire the swing that sent the home crowd into a complete frenzy.

A historic night deserves a historic homer, and Ohtaniâ€s fourth-inning blast was exactly that. It was just the third time in the history of Dodger Stadium that a player had hit a home run over the right-field pavilion, the others being Kyle Schwarber and Willie Stargell, who accomplished the feat twice in his career. When we look back on this night, that second home run will likely be the most memorable.

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“The one that went out of the stadium kind of took everybodyâ€s breath away,†shortstop Mookie Betts said afterward. “Other than that, itâ€s just Shohei being Shohei.â€

With Ohtani’s two moon shots having loudly announced him as a force to be reckoned with, it was a reminder that his struggling through a series is more good fortune for the other team than anything else — and fortune that can change at any time. Just a day prior, Brewers manager Pat Murphy had acknowledged as much.

“Shohei’s in a little spell here where he’s not barrelling balls like he has,†Murphy said after Game 3. “But he’s still for us a tremendously dangerous, dangerous hitter. You can’t forget that. These great ones, they can turn it on like that.â€

[Get more Los Angeles news: Dodgers team feed]

Back on the mound in the top of the fifth, Ohtani cruised through a Brewers lineup that had no answers for his electric stuff. And he showed that he was feeling it, giving a yell and fist pump after striking out both Caleb Durbin and Blake Perkins to end the frame. Then he came back out and struck out the first two batters in the sixth inning.

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He finished his night going six shutout innings, surrendering just two hits and three walks while striking out 10. It was Ohtaniâ€s first start with 10 or more strikeouts since June 27, 2023.

“I just don’t know how he handles the expectations, because a lot of times, when you have expectations like he has, they’re just unattainable, and you just never realize them,†Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Certainly the way he was struggling this postseason, and not to let it affect him and keep his psyche [and] his confidence the same is really impressive.â€

Said Betts: “You could call it surprising, I guess. I donâ€t know. Itâ€s kind of like expectation — for only him.â€

Ohtani’s night on the mound ended after he surrendered two baserunners to begin the seventh frame. But he wasn’t quite finished at the plate. With Alex Vesia having gotten out of the top of the seventh unscathed, Ohtani came back up in the bottom of the inning with the Dodgers holding a comfortable 4-0 lead.

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Unlike on his first two homers, this time, against All-Star closer Trevor Megill, Ohtani fell behind in the count 1-2. No matter. He drove a 98.9-mph fastball 427 feet into the left-field seats to put the finishing touches on his incredible, unforgettable night.

“There were times during the postseason where Teo [Hernández] and Mookie picked me up,†Ohtani said afterward. “And this time around, it was my turn to be able to perform.â€

Said Murphy after his team was eliminated: “We were part of tonight — an iconic, maybe the best individual performance ever in a postseason game. I don’t think anybody can argue with that. A guy punches out 10 and hits three homers.â€

Indeed, if Ohtani had just hit three home runs in Game 4, that would have been an amazing accomplishment. If he had merely struck out 10 batters over six shutout innings, that would have been an incredible performance. But what makes Ohtani the undisputed best player walking the face of the Earth — and the NLCS MVP — is that he can do both.

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Not only that, but his ability to rise to the occasion in the biggest moments, in addition to his unbelievable talent, separates him from the pack.

“What he did on the mound, what he did at the bat, he created a lot of memories for a lot of people [tonight],” Roberts said. “So for us to have a game-clinching — to do it in a game-clinching game at home, wins the NLCS MVP, pretty special. I’m just happy to be able to go along for the ride.â€

Said third baseman Max Muncy: “I feel truly blessed to be able to be on the field for that performance tonight.â€

The MLB postseason has a way of lending itself to big moments, and on Friday at Dodger Stadium, in an NL-pennant clinching game, baseballâ€s biggest star shined the brightest. From now on, when the question is raised about the best single-game performance ever, it will not only be an easy one to answer but also something that will likely never happen again:

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The Ohtani Game.

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SEATTLE — Logan Gilbert didnâ€t want to get greedy.

The Mariners had the bases loaded in a 2-2 game in the bottom of the eighth inning of ALCS Game 5 against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night. The right-hander was standing in the dugout as a nervous spectator, just like the 46,758 fans surrounding him in the seats and concourses at T-Mobile Park.

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Minutes earlier, Cal Raleigh had rejuvenated the home crowd with a roof-scraping, stadium-rattling, game-tying solo home run to left field after seven agonizing innings of minimal offensive output. The rally continued after Raleighâ€s blast, with Jorge Polanco and Josh Naylor drawing walks against Toronto reliever Brendon Little and Randy Arozarena wearing a 98-mph fastball off the elbow from Seranthony Domínguez for a hit-by-pitch to load the bases.

Up to the plate walked Eugenio Suárez, the lovable slugger who returned to Seattle in a serendipitous trade-deadline swap, still seeking his signature moment in this postseason.

By the time Suárez settled in for his showdown against Domínguez, Gilbert had been joined in the dugout by rotation-mate Bryce Miller, who started Game 5 on the mound, tossing four solid innings to set an encouraging tone for Seattle. Miller was in the clubhouse handling his post-outing arm care during Raleighâ€s home run, but he rushed out to get a better view as the eighth-inning rally started to build.

“I just ran outside, and next thing you know, bases are loaded, and Geno’s up,†Miller said afterward.

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[Get more Seattle news: Mariners team feed]

Domínguez attacked Suárez with fastballs and sweepers, with Suárez fouling off one of each to stay alive in the high-stakes at-bat. In a 2-2 count, Gilbert turned to Miller with a humble plea.

“Logan actually told me, ‘Hey, all I’m asking for right here is a home run — nothing too much,â€â€ Miller recounted.

With the crowd eagerly and desperately awaiting a resolution that could break the tie, Domínguez unleashed a 98.5-mph fastball over the heart of the plate. Suárez delivered his thunderous, right-handed cut that has sent so many baseballs over fences during the course of his 12-year career.

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“And next pitch,†Miller said, “home run.â€

Suárez connected with precision, sending Domínguez’s heater soaring toward the right-field seats. He exited the batterâ€s box calmly and started walking toward first base while holding his bat with two hands, patiently observing the trajectory of the most important batted ball of his life.

Three seconds later, that ball crash-landed into the crowd for a series-altering grand slam and a 6-2 lead that the Mariners would not relinquish.

After Raleighâ€s solo shot had taken the volume in the venue to ear-splitting heights, Suárez’s grand slam achieved seemingly supersonic levels. And with that, Gilbertâ€s wish had been granted.

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“It started as a request,†he told Yahoo Sports postgame. “But we can say that I called it.â€

As Suárez spent his well-earned time rounding the bases, several teammates spilled out of the dugout, unable to contain their excitement about what their beloved teammate had just done. For all Suárez brings to the table as a player, his unwavering positivity and steady leadership rooted in an overabundance of good vibes make him nearly everybodyâ€s favorite teammate, someone whose success is celebrated tenfold because of his impact on the entire roster.

That singular clubhouse presence, which Seattle was familiar with from Suárez’s time with the team in 2022 and ‘23, combined with the massive right-handed power he showcased in Game 5 is what made him such an obvious target for Seattle at the trade deadline. And though Suárez had gone through some considerably cold stretches since returning to the Mariners, the veteran third baseman remained predictably upbeat and continued to work hard, with the belief that his time in October would come.

“I think everybody was thinking what could happen, but the chances of it actually happening in that moment is probably not super high,†Gilbert said. “And then, of course, it happens. Geno’s been so clutch, and so many home runs, so if anybody was going to do it, I feel like it’s him.â€

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“He’s done that for 10 years — that same exact swing,†catcher Mitch Garver said.

It was a swing that not only gave the Mariners the lead but also single-handedly transformed the tenor of a series that had been decidedly in Torontoâ€s favor since the action shifted to Seattle for Game 3. For the majority of the 25 innings played at T-Mobile Park before the Mariners†eighth-inning breakthrough, the good vibes Suárez so passionately preaches were absolutely nowhere to be found.

The Mariners had returned home with a 2-0 lead in the series having flatly dominated the Blue Jays on their home turf, setting the stage for the possibility of clinching the franchiseâ€s first trip to the World Series in front of a fan base that had waited nearly a half-century for such a moment. But Toronto arrived in Seattle intent on reversing the tide and followed through with downright dominant victories in Games 3 and 4. And for the first seven innings of Game 5, a similar story was being written, putting the Mariners in danger of dropping all three home games and letting a golden opportunity turn into an embarrassing and season-threatening series deficit.

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For the third straight night, the Mariners had opened the scoring with a home run, this time on a Suárez solo shot in the second inning. But once again, the bats went ice-cold after that initial blast, allowing Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman to settle in and a relentless Toronto lineup to scratch across a couple of runs and pull ahead 2-1.

Torontoâ€s seizing of the lead was a particular gut punch for Mariners fans, considering who was on the mound when it occurred: All-Star starter Bryan Woo, making his postseason debut at long last as he builds back up from the right pectoral injury that kept him off the ALDS roster. Woo surrendered the double and single that gave Toronto a 2-1 lead in the sixth.

But unlike the previous two nights, when the Blue Jays†offense exploded to put the game out of reach, just one run was the difference as the later innings of Game 5 arrived — a deficit that could be eliminated with one swing. And for as unproductive as the Mariners†lineup had been, it still featured multiple hitters capable of sending one out of the yard when needed. Sure enough, the MVP candidate who just spent the summer smashing home run records and the veteran slugger who has been sending souvenirs into seats for over a decade accessed their power at the perfect time, producing two of the most memorable long balls in the history of the Mariners franchise.

“I have a good amount of beautiful moments in my career, but today is something else,†a beaming Suárez said postgame as he sat at the podium with his daughters, Nicolle and Melanie.

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“Hitting that grand slam and helping my team win games in the postseason, in a big game here in front of our fans … They have been waiting for a long time, and myself, too. I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole career.â€

Said Raleigh: “The fans and the stadium, they were waiting 26 innings for something like that. Obviously, it didn’t deliver the first two games. But when those moments happen, they just exploded.â€

Thanks to those two titanic swings from Raleigh and Suárez — and an efficient 1-2-3 ninth thrown by closer Andrés Muñoz, who was finally given a lead at home to lock down — what was trending toward one of the most disappointing three days in the history of Seattle sports transformed into one inning of unfettered jubilation that will be remembered in the Pacific Northwest for generations to come.

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By securing the victory in Game 5, the Mariners have arrived at an entirely unfamiliar juncture for the franchise. Just one win separates Seattle from its first World Series berth and the erasure of a longstanding, not-so-fun fact regarding the franchiseâ€s status as the only big-league ballclub to never appear in the Fall Classic.

The team will now travel back to Toronto, where Game 6 on Sunday represents its first of two chances to punch a ticket to the unexplored final stage of baseballâ€s October tournament.

“They came here last night for this type of game, and I’ve been waiting for this,†Suárez said. “I just feel so grateful right now and feel so good because we’re going to Toronto with an opportunity in front of us to go to a World Series.â€

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Dave Roberts and the Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t afraid of embracing a villain persona. Especially when they have a fully operational Death Star hitting and pitching for them.

As the Dodgers celebrated a second straight National League title and a chance to become MLB’s first back-to-back champions in 25 years, their manager took the microphone and executed a perfect heel turn:

“Before this season started, they said, ‘The Dodgers are ruining baseball.’ Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball!”

Roberts’ players approved of the statement, as did the fans at Dodger Stadium. The group will attempt to follow through on his threat against either the Seattle Mariners or the Toronto Blue Jays, with the Mariners holding a 3-2 ALCS advantage after Friday.

That’s the kind of confidence you get after a dominant sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, who posted the best record in MLB in the regular season (including a 6-0 record against the Dodgers). The L.A. rotation of Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow anchored those four wins with a combined 28 2/3 innings, 9 hits, 2 runs, 7 walks and 35 strikeouts.

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Of course, that quartet of pitchers also epitomize why so many opposing fans see the Dodgers as not just bad for their own team but also bad for baseball.

Are the Dodgers really bad for baseball?

The Dodgers and Brewers were perfectly set up as a clash of baseball archetypes. The Dodgers were the big, bad, large-market team with the most expensive roster in baseball, underwritten by an enormous local TV contract and Ohtani’s cultural power. The Brewers had a bottom-10 payroll in one of the league’s smallest markets, succeeding through shrewd decisions at the plate and in the front office.

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You already know which one won.

Even if you adjust Ohtani’s heavily deferred $700 million contract for inflation, that four-man Dodgers rotation collectively makes more than the entire Brewers $123 million roster. The smallest of those four contracts (Glasnow’s five-year, $137 million deal) would still obliterate the Brewers’ largest contract ever for a pitcher (Matt Garza, four years and $50 million).

Brewers manager Pat Murphy, fond of calling his very talented roster the “Average Joes,” leaned into that dichotomy throughout the series, at one point claiming that some Dodgers players couldn’t name more than eight players on his roster. It possibly became a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the Dodgers absolutely looked and acted like the more talented team.

[Get more L.A. news: Dodgers team feed]

Back-to-back Dodgers titles would mean money works, even if plenty of other high-spending teams — the Dodgers included — have struggled to dominate like what L.A. is doing now. The New York Mets, MLB’s second-largest payroll, failed to make the postseason. The New York Yankees, with the third-largest payroll, have won only one title since 2000 and crashed out hard in the ALDS.

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It’s funny to think that the Dodgers were quite literally bankrupt 15 years ago, and then they landed with a dream ownership group, who hired the right people and signed the right Japanese unicorn. Until 2024, it was easy to disregard them. Their money had bought them only one World Series title, the often-mocked 2020 title won amid the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, it’s not so easy.

The Dodgers look unbeatable. It might become a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

(Mary DeCicco via Getty Images)

Will the Dodgers ruin baseball with another title? That probably depends on your definition of “ruin.” Baseball itself would probably see higher ratings and general interest with a true juggernaut capturing headlines, as is true for pretty much every other major league over the past half-century. Last year’s World Series between L.A. and New York saw a seven-year high in ratings and drew more viewers in Japan than the NBA Finals did in the U.S.

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However, the Dodgers putting it all together is very bad news for your team if you’re not a Dodgers fan. Rooting for a team is hard enough when it theoretically has a 1-in-30 chance of winning the championship. It’s even harder when you look over and see a team, particularly a rich one, seemingly ready to gobble up half the titles of the next decade. It’s more a question of fairness than one about the fate of the game, though those debates might become one and the same during the next CBA negotiations, in which MLB is already pushing for a salary cap.

There is a way to credit the Dodgers for what they have done — what Ohtani has done in particular — while conceding that, yes, Milwaukee was facing an uphill battle because of all that expensive talent. The same will be true in the World Series if the Mariners finish off the Blue Jays, who had a top-10 payroll this year.

For now, though, the Dodgers are just going to have fun with their critics. That’s what villains do.

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A 95-mph sinker from Seattle Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo struck George Springer on his knee in the seventh inning of the Toronto Blue Jays’ 6-2 defeat in Game 5 of the ALCS on Friday. Springer suffered a right-knee contusion, according to Blue Jays manager John Schneider, though Schneider noted that the four-time All-Star’s X-rays were negative.

“George is about as tough as they come,” Schneider said. “I think he’ll have to really, really be hurting to not be in the lineup on Sunday. So we’ll see how he is.”

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Schneider then called out Mariners fans who booed after Springer rose to his feet and tried to stay in the game. Springer walked to first with a significant limp before Joey Loperfido ultimately replaced him as a pinch runner.

“I know this is an awesome atmosphere to play in. And it’s really, really cool to play here,” Schneider began before switching course.

“I think the fans that were booing him should take a look in the mirror and understand what kind of player he is. And I’ll stop there because when a guy gets hit in the knee and is in obvious pain, and you have 40,000 people cheering … not the right thing to do.”

Springer, who tied the game 1-1 with a double in the fifth inning, immediately fell to the ground after Woo’s pitch hit him in the seventh.

The ball drilled Springer in the kneecap and made a sound akin to a foul ball. The former Houston Astros outfielder rolled over in pain and grabbed at his right knee.

At the time, the Blue Jays were ahead 2-1. They seized the lead in the sixth inning, spoiling Woo’s return to the mound when Ernie Clement scored Alejandro Kirk on an RBI single. The All-Star hadn’t made an appearance since he left a Sept. 19 start against the Astros due to pectoral tightness.

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Toronto’s one-run advantage stood until the eighth inning. That’s when Cal Raleigh blasted his 64th homer of the year off left-handed reliever Brendon Little. Soon after, righty Seranthony Domínguez gave up a go-ahead grand slam to Eugenio Suárez.

The Mariners’ bats came to life, and Seattle won a pivotal Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead.

The Blue Jays will host Game 6 on Sunday. Schneider hopes he’ll have Springer available, this time in front of his home crowd.

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With the bases loaded, Eugenio Suárez’s grand slam in the eighth sealed it for the Seattle Mariners, lifting them to a 6-2 win Friday and a 3-2 lead in the American League Championship Series.

Seattle jumped out to a 2-0 series lead on the road before Toronto battled back to even the series on Thursday.

The Mariners regained the advantage when Cal Raleigh hit a clutch home run in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, setting the stage for Suárez’s grand slam to seal the win.

Suárez went 2-for-3 with two home runs and five RBIs, while Raleigh added a RBI on a solo homer, finishing 2-for-4 at the plate.

Mariners ace Bryce Miller got the start, striking out four while allowing four hits, two walks and one earned run over four innings.

Fans erupted over Suárez’s grand slam that secured the Mariners’ series lead.

Suárez put the Mariners on the board with a 396-foot home run in the second inning, giving Seattle a 1-0 lead over the Blue Jays.

In the top of the fifth, a double from Blue Jays’ George Springer brought home Addison Barger from second to even the score at 1-1.

Alejandro Kirk followed with a double in the sixth, setting up a RBI from Ernie Clement that gave the Blue Jays their first lead of the game, 2-1.

Raleigh delivered the game-tying home run in the eighth, a deep shot that just cleared the wall to even the score at two. With the bases loaded later in the inning, Suárez launched an opposite-field grand slam to send the crowd into a frenzy and give Seattle a 6-2 lead and the win.Â

While the Mariners and Blue Jays battle in the ALCS, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers are facing off in the National League Championship Series to determine who advances to the World Series.

Los Angeles currently leads that series 3-0 and will look to complete the sweep Friday night.

The series between the Mariners and Blue Jays will shift back to Toronto for a decisive Game 6 on Monday, with first pitch scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET.

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Forget what Shohei Ohtani has done until now, which includes three MVP awards, a World Series ring and MLB’s only 50-50 season. We just watched “The Ohtani Game.”

Despite a ho-hum performance in the first three games of the series, the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was named NLCS MVP on Friday after one of the greatest single-game performances in the history of not just baseball but all of team sports.

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With his team already up 3-0 in the series, Ohtani reached his apex as a two-way player in Game 4, with three homers at the plate and 10 strikeouts in six scoreless innings on the mound. Unprecedented doesn’t begin to describe what he just did in a delirious night at Chavez Ravine, which ended with a 5-1 Dodgers win.

It all started with a first inning that, by itself, might have been the best single inning ever from a player. Ohtani took the mound for his second career postseason start and worked around a leadoff walk with three straight strikeouts against the most dangerous part of the Brewers’ lineup.

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Jackson Chourio? He went down swinging on a 100.3-mph fastball. Christian Yelich? Frozen on a 100.2-mph fastball. William Conteras? Wiped out on three pitches, the last of them a nasty, 87.6-mph sweeper.

Unlike every other starting pitcher in MLB, Ohtani’s responsibilities didn’t end after throwing a scoreless first inning. He proceeded to don a batting helmet and hit a leadoff homer off Brewers counterpart José Quintana.

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And by “hit,” we mean he smashed the ball 446 feet and 115.6 mph deep into the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium.

Three innings later, Ohtani one-upped that homer by demolishing a cutter from Brewers reliever Chad Patrick, sending the ball past the right-field pavilion.

That homer? 469 feet and 116.9 mph, sending the ball out of Dodger Stadium. Meanwhile, he was still keeping the Brewers scoreless.

Then came home run No. 3.

Facing Brewers right-hander Trevor Megill, Ohtani ripped a ball 113.6 mph to the opposite field to put his team up 5-0.

Meanwhile, on the mound, Ohtani just kept stomping on the Brewers.

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He finished with 10 strikeouts, three walks, two hits allowed and zero runs against one of MLB’s peskiest lineups. He featured a seven-pitch mix, according to Baseball Savant, and topped out on that 100.3-mph fastball to Chourio. Even by itself, that’s a star-level performance.

Here’s some perspective. In Game 3, Tyler Glasnow struck out eight, allowing three hits and only one run in 5 2/3 innings. It was, by a wide margin, the worst performance by a Dodgers starting pitcher in this series, behind Blake Snell’s eight innings of one-hit ball, Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s complete game and Ohtani’s two-way domination.

Ohtani’s night on the mound ended anticlimactically, with a walk and a single allowed to lead off the seventh inning, but he exited to a standing ovation, and then Dodgers left-hander Alex Vesia kept the Brewers scoreless. And one half-inning later, Ohtani hit his third homer.

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In total, Ohtani hit the three hardest balls of the night, hit the three farthest balls of the night, threw the 11 hardest pitches of the night and led all pitchers in swing-and-misses. No other player in the history of baseball is capable of doing all that in a single game, and we might not ever see one do it again.

Ohtani wasn’t having the best postseason going into Game 4, but that didn’t stop the Brewers from treating him like a Barry Bonds-level threat throughout the NLCS. They threw left-handers at him at every opportunity, trying to prevent him from getting hot.

There was a reason for that, as we all saw on Friday.

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Oct 16, 2025, 07:28 PM ET

Anthony Santander’s postseason for the Toronto Blue Jays ended Thursday, with Major League Baseball approving a roster substitution for the ailing outfielder.

Santander has been battling a back injury that led to him being scratched from Game 2 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners. He started in right field in Game 3, but was replaced after two at-bats in Toronto’s eventual 13-4 road win that cut its series deficit to 2-1.

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MLB’s announcement came a little over an hour before Game 4 on Thursday night in Seattle.

The league said Dr. Gary Green, its medical director, confirmed Santander’s injury “after a full review of the medical information.” He was replaced by Joey Loperfido on Toronto’s roster.

By rule, Santander can’t return for the ALCS or the subsequent series if the Blue Jays advance, meaning he’s ineligible to play in the World Series.

Santander signed a five-year, $92.5 million contract with Toronto last offseason but missed almost four months because of a left shoulder injury. The 2024 All-Star hit .175 with 6 home runs and 18 RBIs in 54 games.

He was hitting .200 (3 for 15) with no homers, 2 RBIs and 5 strikeouts in five games this postseason.

“We would obviously love to have him in there, but it’s part of the game, part of this point of the season,” Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman said. “He has really battled back to even get back.”

Loperfido, 26, hit .333 with four homers and 14 RBIs in 96 at-bats over 41 games for Toronto this year while playing both corner outfield positions. The left-handed hitter had not been active for the postseason.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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The biggest chase of the baseball card year is back, as Topps has announced 2025 Topps Chrome Update will be available for presale beginning Nov. 10.

While the Nov. 10 preorder date could change—many recent releases have seen preorder and on-sale dates moved around—Baseball America is here in the meantime with a rundown of items for collectors to get excited about in the upcoming release.

MLB Debut Patches For 2026

Topps Chrome Update annually includes the hugely popular hunt for autographed 1/1 Rookie Debut Patches. This year’s crop likely includes Nick Kurtz, Roki Sasaki and Dylan Crews, with more big names coming. While the formal checklist has not yet been released, based on Baseball America research, those three would be among 276 Debut Patches in this year’s set.

The only MLB Debut Patch officially confirmed by Topps so far is that of Twins outfielder Luke Keaschall, the image of which they have posted on their Chrome Update preview page:

Introduced in 2023, the Debut Patch chase has rapidly become the biggest in the hobby, thanks in large part to the popularity of last year’s Paul Skenes Debut Patch hunt. That card was found by an 11-year-old in California on Christmas morning and later sold at auction to Dick’s Sporting Goods for $1.11 million. Fans can now see the card on display at one of their stores in Pittsburgh.

Assuming this year’s checklist is, indeed, made up of 276 patches, it would be the most ever. Last year’s Topps Chrome Update had 251 patches, and the 2023 release had just 91.

MVP Buyback Program

Here’s another interesting wrinkle in Chrome Update: According to Topps, If Cal Raleigh wins AL MVP, his base card in Chrome Update would be eligible for the Topps MVP Buyback program since he did not have a base card in this year’s Topps Chrome release. The program offers collectors $20 or more in buyback credit for each card of eligible award winners.

The MVP announcement is not likely to come until a few days after the Nov. 10 preorder date.

Rookies & Inserts

In addition to the Debut Patches and possible MVP buybacks, Chrome Update is also known for its huge rookie classes and fun inserts—and this year looks to be no different.

Early product images released by Topps show the Chrome rookie cards for Nick Kurtz and Matt Shaw. Topps says new inserts for 2025 Chrome Update will include Fortune 15, Night Terrors and Power Players.

How To Buy Topps Chrome Update 2025

Given that Topps usually sets preorders to occur about four weeks before a product’s release, collectors should expect a likely sale date during the week of Dec. 8. Stay tuned to Baseball America in the event of updates.

Topps has not yet announced pricing and formats for the preorder. Last year’s preorder included hobby boxes featuring one guaranteed autograph (around $200) and jumbo boxes featuring three guaranteed autographs (around $400).

Once available, you will be able to preorder 2025 Topps Chrome Update here.

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Oct 17, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

For possibly the final time in 2025, there are two MLB playoff games on tap. And the stakes are high for all four teams.

In the early game Friday, the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners will meet in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, with the winning team moving one victory away from the World Series. Later on, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers could complete a sweep of the top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers with a win in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

We’ve got it all covered for you with pregame storylines and lineups, plus top moments during the games and takeaways after the final pitches.

Key links:Bracket

What we’re watching in Friday’s games

ALCS Game 5: Blue Jays-Mariners

How can the Blue Jays keep their momentum going in Game 5?

Buster Olney:Toronto ace Kevin Gausman is fully rested and ready to go, and he could draw upon the work of Max Scherzer, who was effective against the Mariners in Game 4 by slowing everything down. Seattle hitters seemed to be geared up for fastballs against Scherzer, and instead, Scherzer kept dropping in off-speed pitches. And Gausman has an exceptional off-speed weapon in his split-fingered fastball.

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David Schoenfield:Keep hitting the ball hard! OK, seriously, few teams have come into Seattle — arguably the toughest place to hit in the majors — and dismantled the Mariners’ pitching staff like the Blue Jays did in the first two games here. They hit 21 balls with an exit velocity of 100-plus mph — with 16 of those going for hits and 11 of those 16 hits going for extra bases. The Blue Jays had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors in the regular season and they showed how lethal this offense can be when it’s putting the ball in play. Oh, yeah, it helps when Andres Gimenez, your No. 9 hitter, has homered twice, and it especially helps when Vladimir Guerrero Jr., after going 0-for-7 in the two games in Toronto, is 6-for-9 in the two games in Seattle.

What must Seattle do differently to salvage its final home game of this ALCS?

Olney:Bryce Miller lifted the entire Seattle traveling party by pitching so well on short rest less than 48 hours after the incredible Game 5 win over Detroit in the AL Division Series, and because of how Games 3 and 4 played out here, Miller is facing similar pressure in Game 5. Except now the Blue Jays hitters are rolling, after piling up a mountain of offense the past two days. It’s possible that Mariners manager Dan Wilson will be aggressive with his bullpen again — particularly with closer Andres Munoz and regular-season ace Bryan Woo.

Schoenfield: The pitchers definitely need to get more swing-and-miss against the Blue Jays, but the Seattle offense needs to produce. It’s one thing to face Tarik Skubal twice, like the Mariners did against Detroit, but Skubal isn’t pitching in this series. In nine playoff games, the Mariners are hitting just .215 and several key guys are scuffling: Randy Arozarena has a .536 OPS with 16 strikeouts, Eugenio Suarez has a .475 OPS with 14 strikeouts and Victor Robles, who was benched in Game 4, has a .474 OPS. Dominic Canzone, a key player in the second half who hit .300 with an .840 OPS, is 2-for-19 in the postseason. Against the right-handed Gausman, his lefty bat is important.

NLCS Game 4: Brewers at Dodgers

What must the Brewers do to avert a sweep in Game 4?

Alden Gonzalez: First off, they need to hope Jackson Chourio is healthy enough to play. And then they actually need to do a lot of what they did in Game 3: apply pressure early, keep the score close and force Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to go to his bullpen sooner than he’d like. The Brewers, of course, need to hit a lot better (especially Christian Yelich, who is 1-for-11 in this series). But the Dodgers aren’t built to win many games in which their relievers need to get 10 outs to maintain a small lead. That they did it successfully in Game 3 doesn’t mean they can do it again in Game 4.

One-stop shop for 2025 MLB playoffs

We have everything you need to keep up with all the action this October. Schedule, bracket, more »

Jeff Passan:How about hit? The Brewers have mustered nine hits in the first three games of the series. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow allowed three each in their starts. Blake Snell yielded one in his start. Alex Vesia and Roki Sasaki gave up one in a relief appearance. And that’s it. They’ve scored a total of three runs. Striking out 30% of the time doesn’t help, and the fact that they’re facing someone in Shohei Ohtani who had nearly a 7-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in the regular season only intensifies the need to find something now. The Brewers need to be better in every regard to turn around this series, but putting runs on the board is priority No. 1.

What do you expect from Shohei Ohtani in his first start of the NLCS?

Gonzalez:Ohtani will be taking the ball on 12 days’ rest. The last time he had that much time off between starts, it was Sept. 16, when he faced the Philadelphia Phillies after an 11-day layoff from pitching. What followed was five no-hit innings against one of the sport’s best offenses. The Brewers’ lineup isn’t as menacing as the Phillies’, but the team will be playing desperate and, unlike in Game 3, won’t have to hit in the shadows. Ohtani, though, will be sharp, regularly hitting triple digits with his fastball. The question is whether he can shake his offensive slump. On his start days during the regular season, Ohtani’s slash line dipped to .222/.323/.556.

Passan:Because Ohtani has built up slowly to get deep into outings coming off his second elbow reconstruction, it’s easy to have missed that his stuff has returned immediately, which is not always the case with major surgeries. Ohtani never has thrown his average fastball harder, and his sweeper remains one of the game’s best pitches, bendy and confounding. Milwaukee did not handle 97-mph-plus velocity particularly well during the regular season, and what makes it particularly problematic is Ohtani’s wide variety of other pitches to keep them off balance. His first postseason start went six innings, the same as his previous start to end the regular season. If he does the same in Game 4, the Dodgers should find themselves in a good position.

Lineups

Series tied at 2

Starting pitchers:Kevin Gausman vs. Bryce Miller

Lineups

Toronto

TBD

Seattle

TBD

Los Angeles leads series 3-0

Starting pitchers: TBD vs. Shohei Ohtani

Lineups

Los Angeles

TBD

Milwaukee

TBD

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SEATTLE — Three Cy Young Awards. Two no-hitters. Eight All-Star games. Two World Series championships.

Max Scherzer has done it all, seen it all, won it all. The 41-year-old future first-ballot Hall of Famer has accomplished virtually everything a pitcher could possibly dream of on a baseball field.

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Except for this.

On Thursday in the bottom of the third inning of ALCS Game 4, Mariners second baseman Leo Rivas drew a walk against Scherzer to lead off the frame. The Blue Jays had just staked Scherzer to a 3-1 lead, but Rivas reaching base as the No. 9 hitter presented a golden opportunity for the top of the Mariners†lineup to rally their way back into the ballgame. And Scherzer, who had a 10.20 ERA in four September starts and hadnâ€t pitched since Sept. 24, was expected to be on a short leash at the first sign of trouble. Randy Arozarena skied one to left field for the first out, but then MVP candidate Cal Raleigh strode to the plate to raise the stakes.

After two pitches, the count was 1-1. Rivas took his lead at first. The pitch clock ticked down. One bad pitch to Raleigh, and the game could be tied. Scherzer came set, readied and fired … to first base.

With Rivas floating off the bag, Scherzer whipped around and threw to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who snapped a tag down on Rivas as he dove back. First-base umpire D.J. Reyburn initially ruled Rivas safe, but replay review initiated by a Toronto challenge revealed that Guerreroâ€s tag was in time, and Rivas was out.

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It was the first time Scherzer had picked off a baserunner in the postseason.

With the bases suddenly empty, Raleigh seemed a lot less daunting. And two pitches later, Scherzer sat down the star catcher, coaxing a hapless wave at a curveball for strike three to end the inning. The moment marked a pivotal momentum shift for Toronto en route to an 8-2 victory that evened the series at two games apiece.

“I got the pick-off call from the PitchCom and just tried to wait out the clock as long as I could and then make a good snap throw. It wasn’t my best throw, but obviously, I put it in the right spot, so Vladdy could get the tag,†Scherzer said afterward. “That was a big turning point in the game to allow me to stay aggressive at them.â€

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Said Toronto manager John Schneider postgame: “The thing about Max is he really understands the game. I think when the disengagement rules kind of came in, he was always a guy that kind of just lobbed the ball over to first, didn’t really care about the running game … but it’s something that he’s worked on. He’s 41, and he’s still working on his craft.â€

In some respects, the fact that this rally-squashing pickoff was a first-time October feat for Scherzer isnâ€t especially surprising. He has only eight career pickoffs in 2,963 regular-season innings. The last time he picked off a runner was Aug. 30, 2016, and that was Freddy Galvis dancing off second base. The last time Scherzer picked off a runner at first was Sept. 15, 2013.

Pickoffs have never been a primary part of his profile — with good reason. Rarely throughout his legendary career has Scherzer needed to worry much about controlling the running game. For one, prime Scherzer wasn’t allowing an amount of traffic on the bases that would require such strategies. And even when batters did reach, Scherzer was often dominant enough to make the pitches to navigate out of trouble, rather than trying to eliminate baserunners via pickoff.

But considering the sizable sample — Scherzerâ€s 17 outs recorded in Game 4 brought his career playoff total to 148 2/3 innings, moving him ahead of Whitey Ford and John Lackey into 10th on the all-time postseason innings list — itâ€s remarkable that never before had he nabbed a napping runner in October.

The pickoff stood out as the most out-of-character moment for Scherzer in Game 4, but everything else about his outing was entirely on brand — and reflective of his longstanding reputation as the ultimate competitor. It wasnâ€t the smoothest start to the evening, with Scherzer allowing a solo blast to Josh Naylor to open the scoring in the second inning. But much like Shane Bieber the night before, Scherzer got better as the game went along. His stuff was crisp — his 96.5-mph fastball to Raleigh in the first was the hardest pitch he has thrown since June 24, 2023 — and his command and execution of his secondary offerings improved as the outing progressed.

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The pinnacle of Scherzerâ€s performance came in the fifth inning, when Arozarena came to the plate with two outs and a runner on first. Hard-throwing reliever Louis Varland was warming up. Even with a 5-1 lead and Scherzer at only 70 pitches, it felt like a sensible time for a manager to make a pitching change, especially with the top of Seattleâ€s lineup preparing to face Scherzer a third time. But as Schneider departed the dugout and headed toward the mound, it became clear that Scherzer had no interest in exiting the game.

“It was awesome,†Schneider said afterward. “I thought he was going to kill me. It was great. He locked eyes with me, both colors, as I walked out.â€

Once Schneider arrived on the hill, Scherzer began to state his case with ferocity.

“I understood where the game state was, knew how I wanted to attack, and then all of a sudden, I saw Schneids coming out, and I kind of went, ‘Woah, woah, woah, I’m not coming out of this ball game. I feel too good,â€â€ Scherzer said postgame. “So we had a little conversation that basically I wanted to stay in the ball game, but just with some other words involved. I just knew I was strong. I knew I wanted the ball. I knew I could get outs in this situation. I just wanted to stay in. I wanted it.â€

After the animated insistence from Scherzer that he wasnâ€t going anywhere, Schneider retreated to the dugout. Four pitches later, Arozarena did the same, having flailed at a curveball for strike three. In completing the fifth, Scherzer ensured himself the chance to record the win, which he ultimately did, marking his first postseason win since Game 1 of the 2019 World Series.

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“I’ve been waiting for that all year, for Max to yell at me on the mound,†Schneider said. “I think at that point, there’s numbers, there’s projections, there’s strategy, and there’s people. So I was trusting people. I think in that moment, you kind of relive every conversation I’ve had with him over the course of the year, and I trusted him to make pitches.â€

After that third out, it wouldâ€ve been entirely reasonable for Schneider to pull the plug and guarantee Scherzer end his outing on a good note. But how the pitcher looked — and how he continued to talk in the dugout — gave the Blue Jays manager the confidence to send Scherzer back out for the sixth against Seattleâ€s best bats.

“When a guy is in it, when a guy is in the arena performing and doing well, I’m going to trust him to continue to do it,†Schneider said.

And once again, Scherzer rewarded his skipper, inducing a flyout from Raleigh and striking out Julio Rodriguez with a wicked slider. After a walk to Jorge Polanco, Scherzer was finally finished, making way for a quartet of Jays relievers to record the final 10 outs.

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“He lives for this. You have to respect that, and you have to appreciate that,†Schneider said. “… That’s why he’s going to the Hall of Fame.â€

At 41 years, 81 days old, Scherzer became the oldest pitcher to start a postseason game since eternal southpaw Jamie Moyer (45 years, 342 days) took the ball for the Phillies in Game 3 of the 2008 World Series. Moyer was also in the building Thursday, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. A member of the Mariners†Hall of Fame after spending 11 of his 25 major-league seasons with Seattle, Moyer received a warm welcome from the sold-out crowd of 46,981 — an ovation that turned out to be one of the loudest cheers of the night from the home fans.

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Because as Scherzerâ€s vintage performance unfolded, the Blue Jays’ bats picked up right where they left off in their 18-hit, 13-run showing in Game 3. Toronto knocked Seattle starter Luis Castillo out in the third, with shortstop Andres Gimenez delivering an unlikely home run for the second game in a row to seize a 2-1 lead. The Jays continued to add on against some of the top Mariners relievers, tagging lefty Gabe Speier with two more runs, scoring on a wild pitch from Matt Brash and getting another humongous swing from Guerrero for a solo homer off Eduard Bazardo. Addison Barger — making his first start in right field since Sept. 6 — was the star on defense, throwing out Naylor at third to quell a Mariners rally in the sixth and making a diving catch to rob Rivas of extra bases to end the seventh.

For the second straight night, the Blue Jays looked like the superior ballclub in every facet. And by evening the series and ensuring the action will return to Rogers Centre for Game 6 (at least), they reclaimed the home-field advantage they squandered earlier in the series. The ALCS now effectively shrinks to a best-of-three, beginning Friday in Game 5, with a pitching rematch between veteran Kevin Gausman and 27-year-old Bryce Miller. These two right-handers were both mostly good in Game 1, with Miller getting the edge by completing six frames while Gausman surrendered the lead in his sixth inning of work. Even so, Game 5 would seem to favor Toronto, based on Gausmanâ€s more substantial track record and how the Jays†offense has been clicking the past two games.

While the Blue Jays have battled back to make this a tremendously compelling series, itâ€s difficult to know what to expect moving forward. Both teams have exhibited strong evidence that theyâ€re the class of the American League. Both teams have floundered in ways that make it difficult to understand how they got this far. Thatâ€s a credit to both ballclubs for showing how good they can be at their best, and it makes it awfully difficult to know which version of them will show up in any given game.

But hey, thatâ€s what makes it fun.

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