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

For years he changed what we thought was possible for a baseball talent. Last winter he changed what was possible for himself, signing not only for hundreds of millions, but for a chance, finally, in October.

The calendar hasn’t quite turned yet, but Ohtani has arrived. The Los Angeles Dodgers came alive on Wednesday on the power of his bat, taking two leads with a swing from their $700 million man and feeling every bit of life that came from it.

After the first, a two-out rocket off the wall for a double, Ohtani raised his arms in triumph. When he hit a two-strike, two-out single to give the Dodgers the lead for good, he gave a dugout a howl on the verge of an annual celebration.

The Dodgers can open their bottles as early as Thursday after a 4-3 win on Wednesday. Beat the San Diego Padres again and they’ll have won the NL West for the 11th time in 12 seasons. Ohtani felt it.

Shohei has the answer! photo.twitter.com/TgBbraVk2G

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 26, 2024

One night after they had lost miserably and there had been at least one omen of disaster, they managed to get the ship back on course.

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

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

Ohtani is coming off one of the most productive offensive displays of all time. And now it comes with effort. More than anything, he has breathed life into a group that needed it.

“We need it,” Roberts said. “I expect our guys to be emotionally drained, drained, every game from here on out. If they’re not, they’re not showing enough. … It’s personal. It has to be personal. If we’re going to win a championship, we have to have that mentality.”

The Dodgers flirted with disaster again, however. For the second time in two nights, they took a first-inning lead, only to find themselves in a hole right away. Jack Flaherty struggled to find his control and struggled through five innings against a Padres lineup that produces more contact than any other in the sport. A dip in velocity would have only widened that margin.

When Flaherty threw a fastball to Fernando Tatis Jr. with two outs in the fifth inning, the Padres slugger threw the ball halfway across the pavilion, about 450 feet from home plate, to tie the score.

It took until the fourth for the Dodgers offense to get going against Dylan Cease and take another one-run lead. Tommy Edman hit a two-out double into the gap, came over to score and made it a 2-2 game when Gavin Lux broke his 4-for-37 drought with a line drive that slid just over the glove of shortstop Xander Bogaerts for a single.

After a walk from Miguel Rojas, Ohtani sliced ​​at the first pitch he saw, froze at the plate as the rope left his bat at 116.8 mph and off the wall, and raced around to second after breaking the tying run.

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

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 26, 2024

After Tatis’ blast evened the score, Ohtani returned to the plate in the sixth inning, again with two on and two out. After seeing a couple of fastballs above the zone for called strikes, he waited out San Diego’s Adrian Morejon. When Morejon let another fastball go over the outer half of the plate, he drove it through the gap for another two-out run, giving the Dodgers the lead for good.

The outburst of emotions was remarkable and emotional.

“You see the emotion that you never see and you’ve seen it this past week,” Roberts said. “He’s getting a taste of the postseason and he understands how important these games are. … It fires us up. When your best player plays with emotion, everyone follows.”

STIR US UP, SHOHEI. photo.twitter.com/ekf7xv12sx

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 26, 2024

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

Ohtani has embraced his stage. For years, his every move has been followed and recorded by millions of eyes. Yet it was noticeable, even to him.

“There’s a sense of elevation when it comes to playing these meaningful games,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton.

This is what Ohtani has been waiting for. These are the swings the Dodgers have been hoping would come. And yet, for much of the first few months of the season, a little subplot has been developing beneath Ohtani’s astonishing offensive season. About a month ago, his OPS with runners in scoring position was still .696.

A course correction followed. Ohtani capped the fastest 40-40 season ever with a walk-off grand slam. He drove in 10 runs in a game as he became the first player to reach 50-50. By Wednesday night, that OPS stat had risen to .847.

The Dodgers have been keeping a close eye on Ohtani as he approaches his first in October. Roberts noted weeks ago that to get where they want to be, the Dodgers would rely 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 push him around and then drag him out and he’s just being patient and waiting for his pitch and he’s making a move when he gets his chance.”

Wednesday showed how much that can be. Thursday could bring even more.

“I’m looking forward to being able to do this and hopefully celebrate it in front of the home fans,” Ohtani said.

Given the questions surrounding the Dodgers’ starting pitching, this is a formula the Dodgers may have to count on to get somewhere in October. Get enough of Flaherty. Trust their lineup depth. Get a dominant bullpen performance (four innings, no hits allowed).

And trust one of the greatest talents the sport has ever known.

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 predict tonight the intent of what we were going to get and that’s what we did. We came away with a big win.”

(Photo: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)