Shohei Ohtani is back in the leadoff spot for Game 4 of the NLCS tonight, with the Dodgers one loss from elimination. MLB.com led with the move. Yahoo Sports described it as the Dodgers shaking up their lineup to stay alive against Milwaukee. Sportsnet called it a must-win game. The r/baseball post, which credits the lineup to Ardaya, says only that Ohtani leads off with Los Angeles facing elimination. None of the four items gives a reason for the change, who bats behind him, or what the order looked like in Games 1 through 3, so we won't guess at a motive.
The Dodgers need a spark. They have lost all three games to the Brewers, and all three losses came at the plate rather than by one big blowup. They lost 2-1 at Milwaukee on Oct. 11, 7-4 there on Oct. 12, and 6-2 at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday. They have scored 7 runs in the series. The Brewers were 103-59 in the regular season and are the NL Central champions. The Dodgers won the NL West at 100-62.
Ohtani's box scores from the three games are mixed. In the 2-1 opener he went 1-for-3 with a walk and scored the Dodgers' only run. In the 7-4 loss he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. On Wednesday he was 1-for-2 with a walk. Los Angeles left 20 runners on base in the first game and 19 in the third, so the problem has been turning baserunners into runs. Putting Ohtani at the top of the order is one way to give the first inning a better chance of producing one.
Ohtani hit .275 with 30 home runs, 81 RBI and an .889 OPS in 139 regular-season games.
Thu, Oct 15, 8:00 PM ET
Tonight's game at Dodger Stadium is Game 4 against Milwaukee. If the Dodgers win, the series returns to the same park on Friday, Oct. 16. The schedule then has the series going back to Milwaukee on Sunday, Oct. 18.
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