Ohtani hits 3 homers, strikes out 10 to lead Dodgers back to World Series

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 Hernandez) and Mookie (Betts) picked me up, and this time around, it was my turn to be able to perform,"