LOS ANGELES — Since coming over to the Majors in 2018, Shohei Ohtani has persistently made it clear that he needs to expertise the joys of the postseason and, finally, win a World Series title.
In a few week, Ohtani will lastly get that probability. He is aware of all eyes shall be on him. But earlier than that every one unfolds, Ohtani has gotten to expertise a playoff-like ambiance in the pivotal three-game sequence in opposition to the Padres.
Ohtani has greater than responded to the problem. The two-way Japanese celebrity delivered two clutch hits — and stole his 56th base — to carry the Dodgers to a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, placing L.A. on the doorstep of successful its eleventh National League West title in 12 seasons.
The Dodgers can clinch the division crown with a win in Thursday's sequence finale. With the Brewers' loss on Wednesday, the Dodgers have secured a top-two seed and a first-round bye, ought to they win the NL West.
“He’s the best player in baseball,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy stated of Ohtani. “You by no means assume he is gonna get out. Every time he will get in the field, you are simply ready for one thing unimaginable to occur, and he actually would not disappoint too usually.”
Coming off a tricky loss on Tuesday and the division hanging in the stability, the Dodgers got here into Wednesday’s contest wanting to reply. Before the sport, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts stated he absolutely anticipated Padres right-hander Dylan Cease to come out of his begin figuring out L.A. put up a struggle.
The Dodgers did simply that, led by their strongest fighter.
With the sport tied at 2 in the fourth, Ohtani jumped on a Cease slider and bounced it off the right-field wall at a Statcast-projected 116.8 mph. That allowed Gavin Lux, who hit a game-tying single earlier in the body, to come round to rating. As Ohtani obtained to second base, he regarded into the house dugout and let loose an enormous “Let’s go!”
“Just really happy I was able to score the runs and the opportunities that I was given almost every single at-bat today,” Ohtani stated by way of interpreter Will Ireton. “The fans, and even within the team, I do feel like there is some sense of elevation when it comes to playing these meaningful games.”
Ohtani wasn’t achieved fairly but. After the Padres tied it in the sixth on a Fernando Tatis Jr. homer, the Dodgers wanted to reply as soon as once more. And as soon as once more, it was Ohtani who delivered the large hit, a two-out go-ahead RBI single off left-hander Adrian Morejon to give the Dodgers a lead they wouldn’t hand over. He then stole second, tying him with Ichiro Suzuki for many stolen bases in a season by a Japanese-born participant.
“He has raised his level of play,” Roberts stated. “The epitome of it is that Morejon at bat. He gets behind, 0-2, takes a couple breaking balls and hits the ball hard up the middle to drive in a run. You see the emotion that you never see and you’ve seen that over the last week. He’s sniffing the postseason and understanding how important these games are.”
As good as Ohtani has been this season — and he’s on his means to a 3rd Most Valuable Player Award — he has been on one other stage down the stretch. With a 2-for-3 night time, Ohtani is now hitting .477 (21-for-44) with six homers, 21 RBIs and eight stolen bases in his final 11 video games.
If that’s the kind of manufacturing the Dodgers can count on from their finest participant in his first style of postseason ambiance, they’re in place to make a deep run in October.
“I think that's big for us,” Muncy said of Ohtani showing rare emotion. “We've got a lot of guys in here with a lot of postseason experience and it's not lost on us what it means, but when you have guys that haven't been there, and you see the emotion come out of them, it definitely fires you up. You see that, and you get really excited.”
The significance of the second was not misplaced on the remainder of the Dodgers on Wednesday night time, both. After Jack Flaherty tossed 5 innings of three-run ball, Roberts aggressively deployed his high bullpen arms. Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen and Michael Kopech then mixed to toss 4 scoreless innings in opposition to one of many hottest lineups in baseball.
It was a recreation that gave the Dodgers a cheat sheet of what successful in October might appear to be. But first, the NL West is now up for grabs on Thursday.
“Hopefully, being able to celebrate in front of the home fans,” Ohtani stated. “[That] is something I am looking forward to.”
