In Game 3, Ohtani produced a World Series performance not seen in more than a century, smashing the ball every time he had a chance to hit, finishing with two home runs and two doubles.
Ohtani set the record for most extra-base hits in a World Series game, first set when Frank Isbell hit four doubles for the Chicago White Sox in Game 5 of the 1906 Fall Classic. Ohtani's seventh and eighth home runs also moved him into the postseason lead and placed him third all-time in one playoff series.
And while it seemed impossible for Ohtani to do anything more to help his team win, he will enter Game 4 on Tuesday looking to take a commanding 3-1 series lead (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, Sportsnet and Sportsnet+).
The two-way superstar may have had three home runs and 10 strikeouts in the Dodgers' blowout win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS, but combining his absolute dominance at the plate with the World Series stage added another layer of dominance to him.
In the first two games of the series, both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ohtani played below their high standards. Now the Dodgers' formidable leadoff man made a statement by forcing the Blue Jays' hand when they intentionally walked him in four straight at-bats between the ninth and 15th innings.
Even when they finally got Ohtani's pitch in the 17th, Brendon Little walked him on four pitches – three of them non-competitive. It was the ninth time he reached base, a postseason record.
Ohtani moved ahead of Guerrero on the stat sheet while his Dodgers took a 2–1 series lead at the same time. Let's evaluate the pair's standings through three World Series games.
Ohtani's unmatched performance
The second pitch Ohtani saw from Max Scherzer on Monday was a curveball that spun right into his happy zone, and he hit it down the right field line at 183.8 mph, leaping into the seats for a ground-rule double. This was Ohtani's biggest hit of the series so far and a sign of what was to come.
He also came close to the decimal point to match Guerrero's top speed coming out of the series, but the hard hits on the ball give way to where they land. And Ohtani simultaneously broke the ball and got the results in the third game.
With three of four pitches out of the zone in the count, Ohtani chased down the fifth pitch from the inside corner – a 95 mph fastball – and carried it over the right field fence for a single, doubling the Dodgers' lead in the third.
Then, after the Blue Jays took the lead in the fourth with four runs, it was time for Ohtani to play superhero again. He worked a full count, fouled two pitches in the zone and stole three balls, then hit a double to left field to score Kique Hernandez's first. Freddie Freeman's shot then scored Ohtani.
Ohtani's first home run was an example of his talent, but the rest of the baseballs he destroyed were the result of both exceptional ability and good decision-making, as the fearsome slugger missed difficult pitches and took advantage of errors. His second home run, off Ceranthony Dominguez, didn't require a sharp look, however, as Ohtani simply hit a fastball up the middle. His throw in the seventh inning tied the game at five, setting the course for the case for setting a World Series record.
Four hard balls in four hits was all the Blue Jays needed to give Ohtani the four-finger treatment for the rest of the game – except Little was pitching around him late.
Before the game began to stall over 10 straight scoreless innings, Guerrero combined a walk and a soft ground ball single between three strikeouts, all on several hittable pitches in a zone he couldn't throw well.
His two hits sailed through the middle of the infield, one of them weakly hitting cutter Blake Treinen, whom he was chasing well out of the zone.
Guerrero's process remained strong throughout the series. He chased only eight of the 35 passes that sent him out of the zone, and two of those shots were successful. However, at some point, good decisions have to turn into results, especially when sampling takes days rather than months to come to fruition.
Reaching base four times in nine plate appearances is a positive. And Guerrero threw a bullet to third to catch old friend Teoscar Hernandez trying to advance on an infield single. The Blue Jays' star first baseman scored two runs and played defense, all of which help the team win.
But if the Blue Jays are going to pull another rabbit out of the hat, Guerrero may have to match Ohtani's high-profile impact with the performance that earned him ALCS MVP honors and allowed him to set the club's postseason home run record in a single October.
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