Will it be party time in the streets of LA on Friday night?
Shohei Ohtani knows his assignment ahead of Friday night.
Pitch a great game and, well, why not throw a home run into the mix? It's about time for Ohtani to break out at the plate and there's no better time than in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers have a chance to sweep the best-of-seven series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium. The city might just shoot off fireworks and pass out beers and cocktails all across town if it should happen.
Ohtani has been awful as a hitter this postseason. It's been very un-Shohei-like and has been something to still see him batting leadoff. Still, the Dodgers have been able to move into a great position to get a chance at repeating as World Series champions. In this postseason, Ohtani is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA.
First pitch will be at 8:38 p.m. Eastern and the game can be seen on TBS, truTV, and HBO Max.
For MLB fans, if Dodgers fans want to get fired up a little bit before their first pitch, Game 5 of the American League Championship Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners will hit the T-Mobile Park field in Seattle with first pitch at 6:08 p.m. Eastern. That game can be seen on FS1 in a series that's tied 2-2.
The Brewers announced on Friday that Jose Quintana will get the start. Don't expect him to go the full distance, though, like LA's Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Quintana probably will try and pitch three or four innings, maybe five if he's going good, before Brewers manager Pat Murphy turns to his bullpen.
Of course, the Dodgers wouldn't mind getting Quintana rattled early and out quickly. If Los Angeles can get the upper hand with a lead in first three innings, then it might be enough to simply frustrate Brewers hitters even more.
There's no doubt that Dodgers clubhouse personnel will have bottles of champagne ready to be popped if the team can seal the deal.
Let's see if Dodger Blue earns that second straight World Series trip on Friday night.