NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DODGERS VS BREWERS

October 17, 2025

Shohei Ohtani

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Dodgers - 5, Brewers - 1

Q. A lot has been made about your performances offensively this postseason. Coming into tonight, with you starting, did you want to make a statement in this game tonight?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I really focused on, first of all, first and foremost, as a starting pitcher to make sure I'm an effective starting pitcher. On the hitting side, looking at the whole entire team, we will see that at times the right-handed hitters picked us up. And on the flip side, sometimes the left-handed hitters picked us up. So in a sense we're just trying to find the right balance.

Q. Andrew and a lot of your teammates are calling this the greatest postseason game ever played. What do you think?

SHOHEI OHTANI: As I stated before, there were at times during the postseason where Teo and Mookie picked me up. And this time around it was my turn to be able to perform. And I think just looking back over the course of the entire postseason, I haven't performed to the expectation, but I think today we saw what the left-handed hitters could do.

Q. Typically you are at your best as a hitter on the days that you don't pitch. This was one of your best hitting performances ever. I'm wondering if you made any mental adjustments or adjustments to your preparation as a hitter prior to this game?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I felt like the last couple days I felt pretty good at the plate. And just because of the postseason, the sample size, the lack of, it's just that I think the lack of performance really skews in this short period of time.

Q. Pitching-wise, what was working well for you tonight?

SHOHEI OHTANI: The last several days, we did a pretty good job, as a starting pitching, being able to get outs and be effective. And just looking at the entire lineup, my impression that I had was that it's a very tough, effective lineup.

Talking with Will Smith, we had a pretty good game plan going into the game and we were able to execute it.

Q. With this sweep you guys have a week off now before the World Series. Do you think having the bye last year will help you with that? And how do you think the team will handle having so much time off?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I do see it as a positive in terms of being able to rest, both as a position player and as a pitcher. We've had some off days, but we've played some very meaningful games that were very stressful.

And as you've stated, I think it's going to be really important for us to be able to have that kind of game edge and to be able to maintain it throughout this week.