The legend of Shohei Ohtani keeps right on growing.
The Los Angeles Dodgers unicorn set a postseason record by reaching base nine times in their 6-5 win in 18 innings over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
Ohtani went 4 for 4 with two doubles and two home runs — including a solo shot off Seranthony Dominguez that tied the game at 5 in the bottom of the seventh inning. He was intentionally walked in each of his five extra-inning plate appearances.
The Dodgers lead the best-of-7 series 2-1 after Freddie Freeman’s game-winning home run in the bottom of the 18th inning. Ohtani is slated to be the Game 4 starting pitcher Tuesday for LA.
Shohei Ohtani Can’t Be Retired At Dodger Stadium
Ohtani is now 7 for his last 7 at Chavez Ravine over his past two games with seven extra-base hits and five home runs — video-game numbers for a player who is quickly establishing himself as the greatest to ever play the game.
He became the second player in World Series history with four extra-base hits — and all of them came before he was intentionally walked five times.
He willed the Dodgers back twice, first driving home Kiké Hernandez with an RBI double that cut Toronto’s lead to 4-3 in the fifth inning — before scoring the tying run on Freeman’s RBI single later in the frame.
Then, he knotted the score by launching a 401-foot home run to left-centerfield in the seventh. His tear is reminding his manager of Barry Bonds, arguably the greatest hitter to ever live — except for the fact Ohtani will also start Game 4 on the mound.
“Barry’s the greatest hitter I’ve ever seen,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But this day and age there’s just him or maybe [New York Yankees outfielder Aaron] Judge.”
His second home run also led the Blue Jays to stop pitching to him.
John Schneider Won’t Let Shohei Ohtani Beat Him
Blue Jays manager John Schneider spent the Blue Jays-Yankees regular-season games walking Judge any chance he could.
He finally figured out he could do that with Ohtani on Monday as well.
Ohtani is now 6 for 12 with three home runs, five runs scored and five RBIs in the series. But he did not score again in Game 3, since Schneider helped him set a World Series record.
“[Ohtani] had a great game; he’s a great player, but I think after [the home run], you just kind of take the bat out of his hands,” Schneider said. ”
The Jays made that decision look good for most of extra innings, since the Dodgers went 6 for 29 (.207) around Ohtani in extra innings and cut him down on a stolen-base attempt. Schneider even put the winning run in scoring position with two outs in the bottom of the 17th inning, daring Mookie Betts to be the hero, but he popped out to first base.
“He’s arguably the best player on the planet,” Schneider said. “They have a really talented lineup. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to just walk him and face Mookie and Freddie.”
Schneider admitted Ohtani will be seeing more walks, and Roberts understands why.
“He’s the best player on the planet, and he was on the heels of a huge offensive night,” Roberts said. “John smelled that and wasn’t going to let Shohei beat him at all, obviously, and even when nobody’s on base and putting him on to make the other guys beat him.”
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