After a team record 97 victories and a National League Division Series win in five games over the Chicago Cubs, it looked like the Milwaukee Brewers might be built for a long October postseason run.
But they ran into Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitching staff that turned that dream into four straight nightmares.
Milwaukee’s offense scored just a single run in each of the four games played and the Brewers were swept by the defending World Series champions. Designated hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani started the clinching game for the Dodgers and had a heroic and historic night, hitting three home runs and pitching six scoreless innings of two-hit ball while striking out 10 batters.
Ohtani had just two hits in the series prior to Game 4 and was hitting .158 in nine playoff games. He did have a pair of homers against the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card round.
While the Brewers’ bats went ice cold at the wrong time, Ohtani’s magical night ended a run of four absolutely dominant starts by a veteran rotation of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.
The Brewers were forced to go to their bullpen often in October and while they pitched valiantly, they were overmatched in this series. The Dodgers are currently 9-1 in the playoffs, including 7-1 against the top two teams in the National League (Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies) during the regular season.
Here’s a bit of social reaction to Ohtani’s special night:
Entering today…
Only 12 hitters had ever hit 3 homers in a postseason game.
Only 26 pitchers had ever recorded 10+ strikeouts, 2 or less hits and no runs in a postseason start.
Shohei Ohtani just did both in the same game. pic.twitter.com/Bs1LvmnQr4
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) October 18, 2025
Shohei Ohtani had 3 HR tonight and the Brewers had 1 HR in the entire NLCS.
Shohei Ohtani had 10 strikeouts tonight and the Brewers starting rotation had 7 strikeouts in the entire NLCS.
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) October 18, 2025
Shohei Ohtani could single-handedly beat the Brewers in a series. I’m certain of it now.
— UrinatingTree (@UrinatingTree) October 18, 2025
The real-life Roy Hobbs was born in Iwate, Japan. Shohei Ohtani just had the greatest night in MLB’s 154-year history. He hit 3 home runs (one absolute bomb went 469 feet out of Dodger Stadium), struck 10 Brewers out in six-plus innings & sent L.A. back to the World Series. OMG.
— Mike Wise (@MikeWiseguy) October 18, 2025