LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani was a one-man show, hitting three home runs and striking out 10 in six-plus scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers advanced to the World Series for the second consecutive season with a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
Ohtani hit home runs in the first, fourth and seventh innings as the defending champion Dodgers swept the best-of-seven National League Championship Series. Los Angeles will attempt to become the first team to win consecutive titles since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998-2000.
As a pitcher, Ohtani (2-0) gave up two hits and walked three.
The two-way star went deep for the first time since he hit a pair of homers in the wild-card-round opener against the Cincinnati Reds. The three-time MVP entered the night batting .121 (4-for-33) over his previous eight games.
Los Angeles is headed to the World Series for the fifth time in nine seasons, getting past the Brewers in the NLCS for the second time in that stretch (2018).
Veteran left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1) allowed three runs on six hits over two-plus innings as the Brewers saw their season end after compiling the majors’ best regular-season record at 97-65. Quintana walked one and fanned one.
Milwaukee ended the four-game series with four total runs on 14 hits.
Ohtani opened the game from the mound by walking Brice Turang. He followed that by striking out the next three Milwaukee batters, then led off the bottom of the first inning with a 446-foot home run to right field on Quintana’s sixth pitch. He became the first Dodgers pitcher to hit a home run in a playoff game.
The Dodgers put up two more runs in the first inning, taking a 3-0 lead on an RBI single from Tommy Edman and a run-scoring groundout from Teoscar Hernandez.
Ohtani did not give up a hit until Jackson Chourio doubled to lead off the fourth. The right-hander retired the next three Milwaukee batters, including the last two by strikeout.
Ohtani belted a 469-foot home run in the fourth inning that landed on top of the corrugated metal roof at the back of the right field bleachers. He added a 427-foot homer to center field in the seventh as the Dodgers took a 5-0 lead.
After he walked Christian Yelich and gave up a single to William Contreras to open the top of the seventh inning, Ohtani left the mound to a standing ovation. Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, Anthony Banda and Roki Sasaki recorded the final nine outs.
The Brewers’ lone run came on a Turang RBI forceout in the eighth.
