Kiss it goodbye!
After Friday’s history-making series opener, this weekend’s World Series rematch between two iconic teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, is already living up to or superseding the hype.
In a highly anticipated showdown between reigning MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, both living legends did not waste any time and got off to hot starts.
Judge homered in the top of the first inning off right-hander Tony Gonsolin, giving the Bronx Bombers a quick 1-0 lead over the defending champions with his 19th long ball of the season.
However, not to be outdone, Ohtani responded right back in the bottom of the frame, crushing a leadoff homer against ace Max Fried to tie the score at one.
It was the first time in MLB history that reigning MVPs homered in the same inning.
“He’s impressive,” Judge said. “He’s one of the best players in the game for a reason. What he can do in the box, on the basepath, once he gets back on the mound — it’s special.”
Embed from Getty ImagesOhtani was not done yet and was just getting warmed up. He abused Fried again, taking it deep in the bottom of the sixth, sparking a four-run inning for the Dodgers and helping them to an 8-5 victory.
“I feel like he was copying me,” Judge said after the game. “He’s impressive.”
Both players have not gone through MVP hangovers and have picked up where they left off in 2024 and are off to historic starts in 2025. Judge leads MLB in hits (83), WAR (4.3), and all three triple-slash stats (.392/.486/.750), guiding the Yankees to the best record in their division, the AL East (35-21), 14 games over .500.
“Some of the stars really shone tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Meanwhile, Ohtani is tops in MLB homers (22) and runs (61). He is also pacing the NL in slugging percentage (.670) and total bases (148), helping the Dodgers lead the NL West at 35-22.
“I heard the chants for MVP tonight,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said of Ohtani, “and he’s really well on his way to doing that again.”
If they keep up this remarkable pace, the superstar sluggers will no doubt repeat as MVP. That would be the first time in MLB history with back-to-back MVP winners in both leagues.
“That was just a pretty good ballgame right there to beat Max Fried, who is probably one of the top five pitchers in the game right now,” Freeman said. “To score that many runs off him, it’s very hard to do. And a testament to Shohei, who is hitting home runs all over the place, and then just getting guys on, keeping the line moving, getting huge hits and just tacking on a couple more runs. That was awesome.”
If anyone can do it, it is Ohtani and Judge. In the meantime, baseball fans are eager to see what they have in store for the rest of the weekend.
