One-man Sho: Dodgers in World Series

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani produced one of the greatest all-round performances in baseball history as the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers punched their ticket to the World Series on Friday by wrapping up a 4-0 series sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Japanese superstar Ohtani smashed three huge homeruns and struck out 10 Brewers batters in a comprehensive 5-1 victory that sends the Dodgers into a World Series showdown against either Toronto or Seattle, which gets under way on Oct. 24.

The Mariners edged into a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven American League Championship Series with the Blue Jays on Friday after a 6-2 victory in Seattle.

The Dodgers’ series win was almost a footnote after an electrifying individual display from Ohtani, the generational two-way star who is often described as the greatest baseball player since New York Yankees legend Babe Ruth.

Ohtani – a rarity who combines elite pitching and hitting ability – entered Friday’s game at Dodger Stadium on the back of an eight-game homerun drought.

Yet any doubts about his postseason temperament were obliterated in spectacular fashion with a performance before a sellout 52,883 crowd that rewrote the record books.

No player in MLB postseason history had ever hit three home runs and struck out 10 opposition batters in the same game.

Only one other pitcher in modern history – the Boston Braves’ Jim Tobin in 1942 – has hit three home runs in a single game.