(Photo credit: Kiyoshi Mio)

After being dropped to No. 6 in the batting order, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani moved back to the leadoff spot and ended his homer drought on Thursday in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

In the second inning against Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Dustin May, Ohtani belted a two-out, three-run shot, his first long ball since Aug. 18.

As the 428-foot blast sailed toward the right field pavilion at Dodger Stadium, Ohtani looked back at the Los Angeles dugout and did an emphatic bat flip before rounding the bases.

Ohtani ended a 25-game homer drought, the longest of his career, while producing his first extra-base hit and first RBIs of the 2026 postseason. He had been 4-for-23 (.174) in the playoffs before the home run.

Since his most recent homer nearly two months ago against the Colorado Rockies, Ohtani had managed just one RBI.

The Milwaukee Brewers won the first three games of the best-of-seven NLCS and can clinch a World Series berth with a Game 4 win.

With the Dodgers facing elimination, manager Dave Roberts put Ohtani back atop the order for the first time since the final game of the regular season on Sept. 27. In Los Angeles' 6-2 loss on Wednesday, Ohtani went 1-for-2 with a walk and a hit by pitch.

'Just seeing the work the last couple days, I like where his head is at,' Roberts said prior to Game 4. 'I just really -- I liked the at-bats yesterday, and I felt that trying to shake it up a little bit. Obviously, we haven't performed the way that we're capable of, so to kind of shake it up a little bit, but something that's of somewhat normalcy that our guys are used to.'

Ohtani, 32, has been bothered by right biceps and left knee injuries for multiple months and his productivity has slipped.

When he batted sixth against the Brewers on Wednesday, it marked the first time he had batted so low in a starting lineup since Sept. 19, 2020 -- when the Los Angeles Angels slotted him sixth as the designated hitter against the Texas Rangers.

Roberts said he didn't tell Ohtani in advance that he was returning to the leadoff spot. He likes the idea of it possibly jump-starting Ohtani and his struggling troops.

'I feel good about him taking five at-bats and giving us our best chance to win and produce runs today,' Roberts said of Ohtani before the game.

Ohtani is a four-time MVP -- twice with the Angels and twice with the Dodgers -- during nine big league campaigns. He hit three postseason homers in 2024 and eight in 2025 as the Dodgers won back-to-back titles.

--Field Level Media