LOS ANGELES – For years, the baseball world longed to see Shohei Ohtani on nights like this.

For years, he changed our ideas about what baseball talent looks like. Last winter, he changed our ideas about what baseball talent looks like by signing not just for hundreds of millions of dollars, but for a chance in October.

The calendar hasn’t quite turned yet, but Ohtani is here. The Los Angeles Dodgers came alive on the power of his bat on Wednesday, taking the lead twice on one-hit runs from their $700 million man and feeling every bit of life that came from it.

After the first inning, in which a two-out ball bounced off the wall and hit a double, Ohtani held out his arms in triumph. When he hit a two-strike, two-out single that gave the Dodgers the lead for good, he unleashed a roar from the dugout, just before an annual celebration.

After their 4-3 victory on Wednesday, the Dodgers can start popping bottles on Thursday. If they beat the San Diego Padres again, they will have won the NL West for the eleventh time in twelve seasons. Ohtani felt it.

Shohei knows his stuff with clutches! pic.twitter.com/TgBbraVk2G

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) 26 September 2024

One evening after the miserable defeat, which had at least created the appearance of a possible catastrophe, they got the rudder back on course.

They can thank their otherworldly superstar, who is about to write the next chapter of his impressive first season at his new club.

“He’s raised his game level,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani, who has now reached base in 21 of his last 28 appearances, hitting five home runs and stealing seven bases during that span.

Ohtani is in the midst of one of the most successful offensive performances of all time. Now there is something at stake. Most importantly, he has breathed life into a group that needed it.

“We need it,” Roberts said. “I expect our guys to be emotionally drained and drained every game from now on. If they’re not, they’re not leaving enough on the field. … It’s personal. It has to be personal. For us to win a championship, we have to have that mindset going forward.”

The Dodgers, however, ran into disaster again. For the second time in two nights, they took a first-inning lead only to find themselves in an impasse. Jack Flaherty struggled to regain control, toiling for five innings against a Padres lineup that produces more physical contact than any other in the sport. A drop in velocity had only increased that lead.

When Flaherty hit a fastball to Fernando Tatis Jr. with two outs in the fifth inning, the Padres batter hit it halfway up the pavilion, an estimated 448 feet from home plate, tying the score.

It wasn’t until the fourth inning that the Dodgers’ offense got going against Dylan Cease and was able to gain a one-point lead again. Tommy Edman hit a two-out double into the gap to make it 2-2, when Gavin Lux ended his 4-for-37 drought with a line drive that went just over Xander Bogaerts’ glove at shortstop and scored a single.

After a walk by Miguel Rojas, Ohtani cut on the first pitch he saw, freezing at the plate as the rope left his bat at 116.8 mph and bounced off the wall, and raced to second base after breaking the tying run.

Shohei for the lead! pic.twitter.com/ZJ7hmlhdFM

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) 26 September 2024

After Tatis’s swing tied the score, Ohtani returned to the plate in the sixth inning, again with two on and two out. After seeing a pair of fastballs over the zone that were ruled strikes, he waited for San Diego’s Adrian Morejon to retire. When Morejon dropped another fastball over the outer half of the plate, he hit it through the hole for another run batted in with two outs, giving the Dodgers the lead for good.

The outburst of emotion was remarkable and emotional.

“You see emotions you never see, and you saw that last week,” Roberts said. “He senses the postseason and understands how important these games are. … That’s what drives us. When your best player plays with emotion, everyone follows.”

GIVE US FIRE, SHOHEI. pic.twitter.com/ekf7xv12sx

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) 26 September 2024

“When you see that, you get really excited,” said Max Muncy.

Ohtani has embraced his stage presence. Millions of eyes have watched and recorded his every move for years. But this even caught his eye.

“There is a feeling of exaltation when you play these momentous games,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton.

This is what Ohtani has been waiting for. The Dodgers had hoped that such changes would come. And yet, in the first few months of the season, a small sideshow developed behind Ohtani’s amazing offensive season. About a month ago, his OPS with runners in scoring position was still at .696.

A course correction followed. Ohtani hit a walk-off grand slam to become the fastest 40-40 season ever. He scored 10 runs in a game, making him the first player to go 50-50. By Wednesday night, that OPS had risen to .847.

The Dodgers have been watching Ohtani’s first October closely. Roberts noted weeks ago that to get where they want to go, the Dodgers will depend on Ohtani not to carry them but to take what he can.

“He’s handling it exactly the way I hoped he would,” Roberts said. “This is a playoff environment. You see them trying to pressure him and then turn him away, and he just patiently waits for his shot and does something when he gets his chance.”

Wednesday showed how much that could be. And on Thursday there could be even more.

“I’m just excited to be able to do this and hopefully celebrate in front of the home fans,” Ohtani said.

Given the questions surrounding the Dodgers’ starting pitchers, this is a formula the Dodgers will have to rely on to get anywhere in October. They need to get enough of Flaherty. They need to rely on the depth of their lineup. They need to have a dominant performance in the bullpen (four innings, no hits allowed).

And rely on one of the greatest talents the game has ever seen.

So far it has worked.

“The fact is we still have the best record in baseball,” Roberts said. “It may not feel like it, but … I could see what we wanted to accomplish tonight, and we did that. We came away with a big win.”

(Photo: Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)