Shohei Ohtani compared to Babe Ruth as he powers Dodgers towards World Series with sensational playoff performance

Shohei Ohtani delivered one of the greatest performances in baseball history on Friday night as he propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers towards the World Series.

The Japanese two-way sensation pitched six scoreless innings, allowed just two hits and smashed three extraordinary home runs on a remarkable night.

Ohtani also hit the first leadoff home run by a pitcher in major league history when he smashed the ball 446-feet after striking out three batters in the first inning.

Victory on Friday night will hand the Dodgers the National League Championship title with a 4-0 clean sweep of Milwaukee Brewers.

Baseball fans watched Ohtani in awe and quickly took to social media to declare him better than Babe Ruth, who is largely considered to be the sport's greatest-ever player.

One fan said: 'Shohei Ohtani with an out of the park home run. His 2nd home run of the night. He's pitching a shutout too. Babe Ruth.' 

Another commented: 'Shohei Ohtani is a modern day Babe Ruth.'

A third posted: 'There's no reason to have discussions anymore. No one has ever played the game of baseball like Shohei Ohtani. 

'No one can or will ever do this again. He is the GOAT.'

'I never want to hear about Babe Ruth or Aaron Judge again. Shohei Ohtani is the greatest person to ever play baseball. Period. Strikes out 3 in the top of the 1st and hits a HR in the bottom of the 1st lol,' another fan said.

Sports analyst Skip Bayless was also stunned by Ohtani's performance. He posted on X: 'Shohei, pitching a shutout, just hit one of the longest home runs ever at Dodger Stadium - his second of the game after his first-inning leadoff bomb. GREATEST BASEBALL PLAYER EVER.'

Ruth, who died of throat cancer at 53, won seven World Series titles and hit 714 home runs during his illustrious career that spanned spells with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. 

Ruth began as a left-handed pitcher and became a slugging outfielder, playing for 22 major league seasons before retiring in 1935.

In his prime, he would hit more home runs than some entire teams, and he was known for his flair on and off the field. 

The three-time MVP issued a leadoff walk to Brice Turang to begin his second career postseason start, but struck out Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich and William Contreras with a mix of 100 mph fastballs and vicious breaking pitches.

After a quick reset at the edge of the Dodgers' dugout, Ohtani stepped to the plate and broke out of a significant hitting slump with his mammoth homer to right field off left-hander Jose Quintana.

Ohtani paused briefly at the plate to admire his third homer of the postseason and his second leadoff homer, ending his eight-game drought since he hit two in the Wild Card Series opener against Cincinnati.

Before that shot, Ohtani hadn't contributed much to the Dodgers with his bat during their otherwise impressive playoff run to the brink of another World Series.

Before Game 4, Ohtani was in a 6-for-38 drought as the Dodgers' leadoff hitter in the postseason. The fearsome slugger, who was third in the majors with 55 homers during the regular season, hadn't connected since September 30.

While his two-way role requires him to do extensive off-field work to stay ready for both jobs, Ohtani probably wouldn't blame his plate struggles on his pitching responsibilities.

In fact, he had pitched in only two games over the past 30 days before Game 4, thanks to the permutations of the Dodgers' schedule.

In his last regular-season start, Ohtani pitched six scoreless innings of five-hit ball against Arizona on September 23, throwing a season-high 91 pitches. 

In his MLB postseason mound debut on October 4, he gave up three runs over six innings with nine strikeouts to earn the victory in Los Angeles' 5-3 win at Philadelphia in the Division Series opener.

Ohtani, who signed a 10-year, $700m contract with the Dodgers in December 2023, and his teammates will now compete against either the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays for back-to-back World Series crowns.

More to follow.