Shohei Ohtani’s 3‑HR, 10‑K Game Powers Dodgers to NLCS Sweep

When Shohei Ohtani, the two‑way phenom of the Los Angeles Dodgers, took the mound at Dodger Stadium on October 17, 2025, he wasn’t just pitching a game – he was writing a page in baseball lore. In Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, Ohtani threw six scoreless innings, struck out ten, and launched three home runs, including a 469‑foot monster that still echoes in the stadium’s right‑field pavilion. The Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5‑1, completing a clean sweep and clinching the NL pennant for the first time since 2023.

How the Dodgers Got Here: A Brief History

The 2025 postseason marked the third World Series appearance for a Dodgers squad led by manager Dave Roberts. After winning in 2020 and falling short in 2021 and 2023, Los Angeles entered the NLCS with a veteran‑heavy rotation that had already logged a collective 0.63 ERA across the first three series games. That domination was no accident; it was the product of a front office that reshaped the staff in 2022, bringing in former NPB star Yoshinobu Yamamoto and seasoned workhorse Blake Snell. Their combined 35 strikeouts in just 28.2 innings set a new NLCS benchmark.

Game 4 Unfolds: Ohtani’s Historic Night

From the first pitch, Ohtani was in a zone that few have ever reached. He retired the leadoff batter on a swinging strike, then delivered a sequence of nine‑out innings that blended his signature fastball‑slider mix with a pinpoint changeup. By the fifth inning, his strikeout total hit five, and the crowd sensed something special. The first homer came off a fastball that barely cleared the wall, but the second – a towering 469‑foot blast – was pure physics: a perfect launch angle, a full‑speed swing, and a wind‑assisted gust that sent the ball sailing over the right‑field pavilion, the longest at Dodger Stadium this season.

After the sixth inning, Ohtani’s teammates began tossing him high‑fives. He stepped up to the plate in the seventh and, against Brewers’ reliever Garrett Frelick, launched a third homer, sealing a personal stat line that analysts called “the greatest single‑game performance in modern baseball” (Fox Sports, Oct 17).

The Dodgers’ Pitching Machine

The backbone of the sweep was not Ohtani alone. Blake Snell opened Game 1 with an eight‑inning effort facing just 24 batters, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered the first postseason complete game since 2017 in Game 2. Tyler Glasnow added 5.2 innings of one‑run ball in Game 3, setting the stage for Ohtani’s final masterpiece. Across the series, the Dodgers allowed one or fewer earned runs in seven of ten postseason starts, a figure that ranks among the best in NLCS history.

Brewers’ Off‑Season Collapse

For Milwaukee, the NLCS was a harsh reversal of their regular‑season dominance. The Brewers entered the playoffs leading the National League in on‑base percentage (.328) and tied for the best batting average (.257). Yet over four games they managed a solitary run, a total documented in a House of Highlights video transcript (Oct 18). In the ninth inning of Game 4, William Contreras singled, and Andrew Vaughn lofted a fly that was snatched by Teoscar Hernández (nicknamed “Pahes” in the transcript). A final fielder’s‑choice misplay with two outs sealed the Dodgers’ march.

Brewers’ manager Craig Counsell later said, “We just couldn’t find a rhythm against a rotation that was simply too hot.” The collapse reminded fans of the 2018 Brewers, who also fell short in the NLCS despite a stellar season.

Looking Ahead: World Series Match‑ups

The Dodgers now set their sights on the American League champion, which will be decided in a best‑of‑seven series that begins on October 25, 2025, at the home park of the AL winner. If the Seattle Mariners clinch, the World Series will open at T‑Mobile Park; a victory for the Toronto Blue Jays would shift the venue to the Rogers Centre. Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw (not on the field in Game 4) is expected to start the series, while Ohtani’s dual‑role could become a decisive X‑factor.

In the locker room after the sweep, a teammate – who asked to remain unnamed – told a camera crew, “We know the road ahead is a mountain, but we’ve already climbed one. The pitching is on point, the hitting is explosive, and we just have to keep that fire alive.” The comment encapsulated the confidence that has pervaded Los Angeles since the season’s start.

Legacy of a Night: Records and Reactions

Ohtani’s six‑inning, 10‑K, three‑HR line ties the record for most home runs in a postseason game (set by Barry Bonds in 2002) while also marking the first time a player has both pitched a shutout and hit three homers in the same playoff contest. Analysts at ESPN and The Athletic called it “a statistical anomaly that will be studied for generations.” The 469‑foot shot set a new distance record for Dodger Stadium in 2025, eclipsing the previous mark of 452 feet set by Mookie Betts in 2022.

Fans flooded social media with the hashtag #OhtaniMagic, and a trending tweet from former MLB star Mike Trout read, “Never seen anything like it. That’s baseball at its most beautiful.” The buzz is likely to continue as the World Series approaches.