NEW YORK – Shohei Ohtani perked up when he heard his name.
“I told him,” Dodgers backup catcher Austin Barnes said after Ohtani’s three-run moonshot iced an 8-0 victory over the Mets in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, “to place the ball over the fence hit.”
“Not bad advice,” Ohtani said.
Barnes clapped his hands three times. “For example: 'Today, man, over the fence.'”
Ohtani beamed as he dressed to leave the stadium, two wins shy of the World Series.
“Good coaching,” Ohtani said.
For Ohtani the game is not that easy. But sometimes he can make it look like he did Wednesday in the eighth inning, hitting a ball that seemingly could have ended up in Flushing Bay if Citi Field's second deck hadn't been in the way.
Shohei Ohtani didn't get a success in 22 at-bats with nobody on base, but had seven hits in nine at-bats with runners on. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
The home run led a procession of Mets fans toward the exits, extending Ohtani's bizarre postseason split and easing the stress for manager Dave Roberts. The Dodgers arrived in Queens this week hoping to sneak through three straight games while using starters who haven't been capable of last deep in games. With one hit, Ohtani prolonged the lead and guarded the bullpen. Roberts didn't need to depend on heavily indebted replacements Evan Phillips and Daniel Hudson. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto starting Game 4, the team should consist of Phillips and Hudson in addition to Blake Treinen and Michael Kopech, who combined to pitch two scoreless innings on Wednesday.
“These things are important,” Roberts said.
This is Ohtani's first time within the postseason. He has competed under the microscope for many of his skilled profession, but never before has American audiences examined his striking techniques in such detail. He contributed two goals in a Game 1 win and appeared twice in a Game 2 loss. Yet he had made the sport seem really easy in the ultimate months of the season – each time he saw a pitch he hit it with great force – that each out he made gave the impression of a harbinger of an extended crisis.
Roberts suggested that Ohtani swung too often on balls outside the strike zone. He looked lost against Mets starter Sean Mananea in Game 2. On Tuesday, before the Dodgers practiced at Citi Field, Ohtani deflected questions on his confidence and approach. He didn't think he would wither within the glow of the postseason. He didn't think he was in the course of a terrible phase.
“I feel good at the plate,” Ohtani said through his interpreter, Will Ireton. “I feel like I can remember the times when I felt good and maybe incorporate that.”
Part of the priority stemmed from an odd inequality in its divisions. Ohtani didn't get a success in 22 at-bats wherein nobody was on base, but he still had seven hits in nine at-bats with runners on board. The difference might matter less to most hitters, but Ohtani leads the Dodgers lineup. Using his legs, he stole 59 bases through the regular season. He didn't steal anything in October.
Ohtani insisted on Tuesday that this transient lull in his performance wouldn’t change his intentions as a batsman. “No matter how they attack me, my plan is to stick to the same approach as much as possible and not focus too much on how they attack me,” he said.
Ohtani kept that promise in Game 3. He landed on the primary pitch he saw, a 95 mph fastball from Mets starter Luis Severino. Two innings later, when Severino couldn't find the zone, Ohtani drew a walk. In the sixth, Ohtani was flailing after Kiké Hernández's two-run home run when Mets reliever Reed Garrett's 0-2 cutter landed toward his cleats.
All of those attacks occurred while the bases were empty. Ohtani's fourth wasn't the case. He followed Will Smith's walk and a two-out single from Hernández. Mets reliever Tylor Megill attempted an 0-1 cutter for an inside hit. Ohtani pushed the ball into right field. A collective gasp overwhelmed the 43,883 fans within the stadium. The stats don't do the homer justice: 115.9 mph right off the bat, with an estimated distance of 397 feet. The ball landed near the post, close enough to warrant a replay.
“I don’t know how you could even turn that around,” said third baseman Max Muncy, who reached base in five plate appearances and added a solo shot within the ninth. “The ball was 100 feet above the foul pole. The foul pole isn’t high enough for that.”
The home run modified the calculus for Robert's final game. He had used Treinen, certainly one of his backup aces, to face the underside of the Mets lineup in Game 7. As the eighth inning began, with the Dodgers leading by 4, Hudson loosened up within the bullpen. If the result remained the identical, Treinen would return for the eighth time. If the Dodgers added a run, Hudson would pitch. Add three runs? This allowed Roberts to send rookie Ben Casparius out for the ultimate two innings. “The more runs we score, the easier it gets,” Treinen said.
The bullpen must be near full strength for Game 4. The Dodgers are attempting to get through this series without Mets sluggers Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos and Pete Alonso repeatedly facing the identical replacements. So far, Roberts has had success. “The more we can hide the guys and keep them from going in, that's probably ideal,” Hudson said.
Ohtani left the stadium without talking to reporters. He didn't have to say much. “It was important,” said Roberts, “that Shohei built up some confidence.” His team is ahead. His swing silenced a ballpark and saved his bullpen. A reminder was also offered. Even amid this relative decline in his scoring output, Ohtani can encourage awe. That's not shocking, in fact.
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