Drought is over! Ohtani hits home run in his first at-bat vs. Mets [VIDEO]

The playoffs had been incredible for the Japanese Shohei Ohtanisince although he was on a roll with runners on base he was 0-for-22 with the bases clean this postseason… but with just one pitch he was in charge of ending that drought.

The first bat Los Angeles Dodgers He went into Game 4 of the National League Championship Series with that hitless performance, but on the second pitch of the game he ended any chance of talking about it any further as he hit a solo home run.

In Thursday’s fourth game at Citi Field, opening the game, the superstar changed that trend against the same second pitch from the Mets’ Colombian left-hander, Jose Quintana.

Facing a 90.1 mph two-seam fastball, Ohtani unleashed a 117.8 mph blast that went 422 feet, a home run to right-center field to put the Dodgers up 1-0.

The exit velocity is the third highest for a home run in the Statcast era (since 2015):

• Kyle Schwarber, 2022 NLCS G1: 119.7 mph
• Giancarlo Stanton, 2020 ALDS G2: 118.3 mph
• Shohei Ohtani, 2024 NLCS G4: 117.8 mph

It was Ohtani’s third homer of these playoffs and his 9th RBI. At the close of the episode, Mets third baseman Mark Vientos tied the game with his own home run off Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Seventh Entry

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