Sports

Shohei Ohtani Plays a Starring Role in Dodgers' Game 4 Rout of Mets

Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani smacked a leadoff homer in the first inning and scored four runs. Los Angeles took a commanding 3-1 lead in the NLCS.

Published

4 hours ago

October 18, 2024

Ed Odeven

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani belts a leadoff home run in the first inning off New York Mets starter Jose Quintana in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on October 17 at Citi Field. (©KYODO)

Read the full story on SportsLook - Shohei Ohtani Plays a Starring Role in Dodgers' Game 4 Rout of Mets

Shohei Ohtani scored four runs in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 10-2 demolition of the New York Mets on Thursday, October 17.

Ohtani whacked a leadoff home run in the first inning and the Dodgers cruised to victory in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field.

With the win, the Dodgers took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 of the NLCS is on Friday in the Big Apple.

In the first inning, Ohtani clubbed an 0-1 sinker from Colombian left-hander Jose Quintana and hit it 422 feet (128.6 meters) into the right-center field stands.

The Mets tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the first on a Mark Vientos solo homer off Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Los Angeles scored a pair of runs in the third to take the lead for good. Ohtani's team tacked on two more runs in both the fourth and the sixth and three more in the eighth.

Shohei Ohtani Ignites the Dodgers

Asked by a reporter if Ohtani's homer was the tone-setting moment of the entire game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza responded by saying, "Yeah, you could say that. But the solo shot wasn't going to beat us."

Added Mendoza, "Yeah, it was pretty impressive, but not only Ohtani, you have to take care of the other guys behind him. But, yeah, when he goes out there first at-bat of the game and hits it like that, obviously it's a good feeling for them. We knew that wasn't going to beat us, but we couldn't just stop it."

Dodgers energizer Mookie Betts, batting second behind Ohtani, went 4-for-6 with three runs and four RBIs. Tommy Edman also finished with three RBIs.

"It's been fun being able to see him perform really well, obviously being in the situation where I'm on base," Ohtani said of Betts in the postgame news conference. "So he looks really good and locked in. My job at that point is to make sure that I score on anything that Mookie really hits."

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Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.