Shohei Ohtani helps Dodgers get closer to winning NL West

LOS ANGELES — Since coming over to the Majors in 2018, Shohei Ohtani has consistently made it clear that he wants to experience the thrill of the postseason and, ultimately, win a World Series title.

In about a week, Ohtani will finally get that chance. He knows all eyes will be on him. But before that all unfolds, Ohtani has gotten to experience a playoff-like atmosphere in the pivotal three-game series against the Padres.

Ohtani has more than responded to the challenge. The two-way Japanese superstar delivered two clutch hits — and stole his 56th base — to carry the Dodgers to a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, putting L.A. at the doorstep of winning its 11th National League West title in 12 seasons.

The Dodgers can clinch the division crown with a win in Thursday’s series finale. With the Brewers’ loss on Wednesday, the Dodgers have secured a top-two seed and a first-round bye, should they win the NL West.

“He’s the best player in baseball,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said of Ohtani. “You never think he’s gonna get out. Every time he gets in the box, you’re just waiting for something incredible to happen, and he really doesn’t disappoint too often.”

Coming off a tough loss on Tuesday and the division hanging in the balance, the Dodgers came into Wednesday’s contest looking to respond. Before the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he fully expected Padres right-hander Dylan Cease to come out of his start knowing L.A. put up a fight.

The Dodgers did just that, led by their strongest fighter.

With the game tied at 2 in the fourth, Ohtani jumped on a Cease slider and bounced it off the right-field wall at a Statcast-projected 116.8 mph. That allowed Gavin Lux, who hit a game-tying single earlier in the frame, to come around to score the game-tying run. As Ohtani got to second base, he looked into the home dugout and let out a big “Let’s go!”

“Just really happy I was able to score the runs and the opportunities that I was given almost every single at-bat today,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “The fans, and even within the team, I do feel like there is some sense of elevation when it comes to playing these meaningful games.”

Ohtani wasn’t done quite yet. After the Padres tied it in the sixth on a Fernando Tatis Jr. homer, the Dodgers needed to respond once again. And once again, it was Ohtani who delivered the big hit, a two-out go-ahead RBI single off left-hander Adrian Morejon to give the Dodgers a lead they wouldn’t give up. He then stole second, tying him with Ichiro Suzuki for most stolen bases in a season by a Japanese-born player.

“He has raised his level of play,” Roberts said. “The epitome of it is that Morejon at bat. He gets behind 0-2, takes a couple breaking balls and hits the ball hard up the middle to drive in a run. You see the emotion that you never see and you’ve seen that over the last week. He’s sniffing the postseason and understanding how important these games are.”

As good as Ohtani has been this season — and he’s on his way to a third Most Valuable Player Award — he has been on another level down the stretch. With a 2-for-3 night, Ohtani is now hitting .477 (21-for-44) with six homers, 21 RBIs and eight stolen bases in his last 11 games.

If that’s the type of production the Dodgers can expect from their best player in his first taste of postseason atmosphere, they’re in position to make a deep run in October.

“I think that’s big for us,” Muncy said of Ohtani showing rare emotion. “We’ve got a lot of guys in here with a lot of postseason experience and it’s not lost on us what it means, but when you have guys that haven’t been there, and you see the emotion come out of them, it definitely fires you up. You see that, and you get really excited.”

The importance of the moment was not lost on the rest of the Dodgers on Wednesday night, either. After Jack Flaherty tossed five innings of three-run ball, Roberts aggressively deployed his top bullpen arms. Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen and Michael Kopech then combined to toss four scoreless innings against one of the hottest lineups in baseball.

It was a game that gave the Dodgers a cheat sheet of what winning in October could look like. But first, the NL West is now up for grabs on Thursday.

“Hopefully, being able to celebrate in front of the home fans,” Ohtani said. “[That] is something I am looking forward to.”