You’re reading The Sporting Scene , Louisa Thomas’s weekly look at the world of sports.

In the first game of the Wild Card Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds, the Dodgers’ superstar Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs. Then, in game after game, he swung at curves in the dirt and fastballs above the belt. He flung his bat at pitches wide off the plate and hit feeble ground balls off sinkers that ran in on his hands. He waited, in his majestic stance, and watched as third strikes sped by. In the National League Division Series, against the Philadelphia Phillies, Ohtani had one hit and nine strikeouts. His batting line: one for eighteen. In the first two games of the National League Championship Series, against the Milwaukee Brewers, he went one for seven with three

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