The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League pennant with a 5–1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, powered by an extraordinary two-way performance from Shohei Ohtani. Entering Game 4, oddsmakers had the Dodgers positioned as clear favorites, with betting lines around –165, while the Brewers were listed near +145. Those projections proved prescient as Ohtani delivered an effort that immediately entered the conversation as one of the most dominant postseason games ever played.
Ohtani homered three times and struck out ten batters across six-plus innings of shutout pitching, lifting the Dodgers to their twenty-third World Series appearance and their second consecutive NL pennant. The three-time MVP was named NLCS Most Valuable Player, a recognition earned largely through his Game 4 heroics after a relatively quiet postseason to that point.
His performance began with a historic swing. After striking out the side in the top of the first, Ohtani smashed the first leadoff home run by a pitcher in postseason history, driving a pitch from Brewers starter José Quintana into the right-field seats. That was only the beginning. In the fourth inning, he launched a 469-foot blast over the pavilion roof in right-center, one of the longest tracked home runs in postseason play. He capped his performance with a solo homer to left in the seventh, becoming the twelfth player in MLB history to hit three home runs in a postseason game.
Those three home runs traveled a combined 1,342 feet, underscoring the power behind his swings. The two-way star also excelled on the mound, holding Milwaukee hitless until the fourth inning and striking out at least two batters in three consecutive frames. He departed only after yielding back-to-back hits in the seventh, leaving to a prolonged ovation befitting the magnitude of his outing.
His dominance overshadowed a Milwaukee team that won a National League–best ninety-seven games during the regular season but was stifled by Los Angeles’ elite pitching throughout the series. Across the four-game sweep, Dodgers starters allowed just two earned runs in 28⅔ innings, while striking out thirty-five batters. Brewers manager Pat Murphy called Ohtani’s outing “the best individual performance ever in a postseason game,” noting the unique combination of power and command that Milwaukee could not solve.
The Dodgers set the tone early. Following Ohtani’s leadoff homer, Mookie Betts and Will Smith both singled and scored in the first inning, giving Los Angeles a quick 3–0 lead. The Brewers did not record a hit until Jackson Chourio doubled to begin the fourth, but Ohtani stranded the runner without allowing further damage. Milwaukee’s lone run came in the eighth inning when Caleb Durbin scored on a ground ball after Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen allowed two baserunners.
Los Angeles’ bullpen continued its strong postseason performance. After Alex Vesia escaped the jam in the seventh, Roki Sasaki closed the door with a scoreless ninth inning, continuing his emergence as an unlikely but effective high-leverage option.
With the victory, the Dodgers became the first team to win back-to-back National League pennants since the Philadelphia Phillies accomplished the feat in 2009. They also became just the fifth team ever to sweep the NLCS, and the first since the Washington Nationals achieved the milestone in 2019. The win further solidified their status as one of the most dominant franchises of the past decade, with fourteen pennants since relocating to Los Angeles.
Milwaukee’s season ended in disappointment despite achieving a franchise-record win total. The Brewers have now been eliminated by the Dodgers in three different postseason runs during their current stretch of playoff appearances, and they remain without a World Series berth since 1982.
The Dodgers now await the winner of the American League Championship Series between Toronto and Seattle. Regardless of opponent, Ohtani’s historic Game 4 performance has reshaped expectations and strengthened Los Angeles’ position as a favorite heading into the Fall Classic. The Dodgers, seeking to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in twenty-five years, will enter the World Series with a rested roster and the momentum of a nine-win postseason run in which they outscored their opponents by a dominant margin.
Manager Dave Roberts summarized the team’s mindset during the on-field celebration, telling the crowd that the Dodgers were intent on finishing what they started. With Ohtani powering both the lineup and the pitching staff, Los Angeles will now look to secure its third championship in six seasons when the World Series begins next Friday.
