Another day, another opportunity for Shohei Ohtani to find more ways to amaze us all.

The two-way superstar toed the rubber at Dodger Stadium Friday as L.A. tries to close the door on the Brewers to make their second World Series appearance in a row. Ohtani walked Milwaukee leadoff man Brice Turang to start the game, but he quickly bounced back by striking out Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich and William Contreras to end the inning.

He had to quickly get off the mound to make it in time for his second job, hitting leadoff for the Dodgers. In his first at-bat of the day, he took Brewers starter José Quintana to a full count before he saw a breaking ball low and in the zone. Ohtani took the pitch 446 feet over the right-field wall and nearly out of Dodger Stadium to give himself the lead.

According to MLB's Sarah Langs, Ohtani's solo shot was the first leadoff homer by a pitcher in MLB history, which counts the regular season and playoffs. It was also the first homer by a Dodgers pitcher ever in the playoffs and the first by any pitcher since 2018, also according to Langs.

He started a three-run first for the Dodgers as they aim to sweep the Brewers. Ohtani then went out in the second inning and retired the side in 10 pitches. Friday's Game 4 of the National League Championship Series marked Ohtani's second start of the playoffs. He threw six innings and recorded the win in L.A.'s Game 1 victory over the Phillies in the NL Division Series. At the plate, he now has three homers over the playoffs, adding onto the 55 he hit over the regular season.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shohei Ohtani Crushes Leadoff Homer After Striking Out Three Batters in First Inning.