Lightning has struck in the same place twice for Shohei Ohtani.
The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Ohtani busted out of his batting slump in a big way to start Game 4 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Leading off for the Dodgers in the bottom of the first inning, Ohtani took Brewers starter Jose Quintana deep with a 446-foot nuke to right field to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
SHOHEI OHTANI!
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2025
WHAT A START! pic.twitter.com/fI8mNHanNn
A wild coincidence about Ohtani’s home run quickly made the rounds on social media. Ohtani’s homer, a leadoff shot off Quintana in Game 4 of the NLCS on Oct. 17 … was exactly what Ohtani already did last postseason.
October 17, 2024: Shohei Ohtani homers off Jose Quintana to lead off Game 4 of the NLCS
— Andrés Soto (@TheAndresPablo) October 18, 2025
October 17, 2025: Shohei Ohtani homers off Jose Quintana to lead off Game 4 of the NLCS pic.twitter.com/Jh5xOaPT77
Indeed, Ohtani led off Game 4 of the 2024 NLCS with a solo homer off Quintana, who was then pitching for the New York Mets. The Dodgers went on to defeat the Mets in six games and eventually won the World Series too.
ohtani hit a home run off quintana 1 year ago today when he pitched for the mets lmfaoooo pic.twitter.com/hbZyPiYuEo
— NLexCS (@lexiebu) October 18, 2025
Ohtani also drew the start against the Brewers on Friday, striking out four batters in the first three innings. Needless to say, the 31-year-old sensation continues to make history almost every single time that he plays, especially after making a big change earlier this NLCS to help himself shake his recent struggles at the plate.
