Amazing, modest Ohtani says 3-HR, 10K performance was 'just his turn to help team'

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM DODGERS PLAYER AND NLCS MVP SHOHEI OHTANI AND DODGERS MANAGER DAVE ROBERTS AFTER NLCS FIVE  SHOWS: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 17, 2025) (MLB – Editorial Use Only. No monetisation) 1. SHOHEI OHTANI, DODGERS STARTING PITCHER AND DH SPEAKING AT POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE WITH TRANSLATOR WILL IRETON AFTER NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES GAME FOUR AT DODGER STADIUM 2. (SOUNDBITE)(Japanese with English Translation) SHOHEI OHTANI AFTER BEING ASKED IF HE WANTED TO MAKE TONIGHT A STATEMENT GAME, SAYING: "I really focused on, first of all, first and foremost, as a starting pitcher to make sure I'm an effective starting pitcher. On the hitting side, looking at the whole entire team, we will see that at times the right-handed hitters picked us up. And on the flip side, sometimes the left-handed hitters picked us up. So in a sense we're just trying to find the right balance." 3. WHITE FLASH 4. (SOUNDBITE)(Japanese with English Translation) SHOHEI OHTANI AFTER BEING ASKED ABOUT SOME PEOPLE SAYING THIS WAS THE GREATEST PLAYOFF GAME EVER IN MLB HISTORY, SAYING: "As I stated before, there were at times during the postseason where Teo (Hernandez) and Mookie (Betts) picked me up. And this time around it was my turn to be able to perform. And I think just looking back over the course of the entire postseason, I haven't performed to the expectation, but I think today we saw what the left-handed hitters could do." 5. WHITE FLASH 6. (SOUNDBITE)(Japanese with English Translation) SHOHEI OHTANI AFTER BEING ASKED WHAT PART OF HIS PITCHING WORKED SO WELL, SAYING: "The last several days, we did a pretty good job, as a starting pitching, being able to get outs and be effective. And just looking at the entire lineup, my impression that I had was that it's a very tough, effective lineup. Talking with Will Smith, we had a pretty good game plan going into the game and we were able to execute it. 7. DODGERS MANAGER DAVE ROBERTS SPEAKING AT POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE 8. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DODGERS MANAGER DAVE ROBERTS AFTER BEING ASKED TO DESCRIBE OHTANI'S PERFORMANCE, SAYING: "That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time. 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. So for us to have a game-clinching, to do it in a game-clinching (NLCS clinching) game at home, wins the NLCS MVP, pretty special. I'm just happy to be able to go along for the ride." 9. WHITE FLASH 10. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DODGERS MANAGER DAVE ROBERTS AFTER BEING ASKED ABOUT OHTANI MAINTAINING HIS CONFIDENCE DURING DIFFICULT POSTSEASON, SAYING: "Yeah, you know, I just don't know how he handles sort of the expectations, because a lot of times when you have expectations like he has, they're just unattainable and you just never realize them. Certainly the way he was struggling this postseason and not to let it affect him and keep his psyche, his confidence the same is really impressive. So we knew that he was going to come through at some point. And what better night to do it while he was pitching too." 11. WHITE FLASH 12. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DODGERS MANAGER DAVE ROBERTS AFTER BEING ASKED ABOUT SWEEPING THE BREWERS AND PLAYING SO WELL IN POSTSEASON, SAYING: "I think we're just in a zone. We're focused on playing good baseball. And I still think that there's a lot of low-hanging fruit offensively. But it's just a very talented group. It's a very focused and very hungry group. So I think that when you get those components, it's tough to beat. And we mind the little things. We're hungry. We don't really care what happened before. And we're playing good baseball. We're healthy and we've still got some work to do, though." STORY: 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 (October 17). 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. Ohtani (2-0), who gave up two hits and walked three, became the first pitcher in MLB history — regular season or postseason — to hit three home runs and strike out at least one in the same game. 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. (Production: David Grip)

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