Shohei Ohtani adds to the Dodgers' postseason highlight with a late-game moonshot

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 put 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 when he hit 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 hit in 22 at-bats with no one 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 tension 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 able to last deep in games. With one hit, Ohtani extended the lead and protected the bullpen. Roberts didn't have to rely on heavily indebted replacements Evan Phillips and Daniel Hudson. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto starting Game 4, the team should consist of Phillips and Hudson as well as 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 in the postseason. He has competed under the microscope for most of his professional career, 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 game seem so easy in the final months of the season – every time he saw a pitch he hit it with great force – that every out he made seemed like a harbinger of a longer 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 about his confidence and approach. He didn't think he would wither in the glow of the postseason. He didn't think he was in the middle 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 concern stemmed from a strange inequality in its divisions. Ohtani didn't get a hit in 22 at-bats in which no one 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 during the regular season. He didn't steal anything in October.

Ohtani insisted on Tuesday that this brief lull in his performance would not 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 first 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 as Mets reliever Reed Garrett's 0-2 cutter flew toward his cleats.

All of these attacks occurred while the bases were empty. Ohtani's fourth wasn't the case. It followed a walk by catcher Will Smith and a two-out single by 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 in the stadium. The stats don't do the homer justice: 115.9 mph right off the bat, for an estimated distance of 397 feet. The ball landed near the post, close enough to warrant a replay.

“I don’t know if you would even turn that over,” said third baseman Max Muncy, who reached base in five plate appearances and added a solo shot in the ninth. “The ball was 100 feet above the foul pole. The foul pole isn’t high enough for that.”

The home run changed the calculus for Robert's final game. He had used Treinen, one of his backup aces, to face the bottom of the Mets' lineup in Game 7. As the eighth inning began, with the Dodgers leading by four, Hudson loosened up in the bullpen. If the result remained the same, 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 final two innings. “The more runs we score, the easier it gets,” Treinen said.

The bullpen should be close to full strength for Game 4. The Dodgers are trying to run this gauntlet without Mets sluggers Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos and Pete Alonso taking repeated looks at the same relievers. So far, Roberts has been successful. “The more we can hide the guys and keep them from going in, that's probably ideal,” Hudson said.

Ohtani left the stadium without speaking to reporters. He didn't need to say much. “It was important,” said Roberts, “for Shohei to build 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 inspire awe. That's not shocking, of course.

(Top photo by Shohei Ohtani: Elsa / Getty Images)