Ohtani outduels Judge as Dodgers drop Yankees

LOS ANGELES -- The New York Yankees' instrumentality to Dodger Stadium, the tract of a star-studded World Series and an improbable Game 1, was billed arsenic 1 of this season's astir anticipated matchups. It began successful unprecedented manner -- with Aaron Judge homering successful the apical of the archetypal and Shohei Ohtani answering successful the bottommost half, marking the archetypal clip 2 reigning MVPs person homered successful the aforesaid inning of the aforesaid game.

In the end, Ohtani prevailed.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way improvement added different homer successful the sixth, igniting a four-run rally against a antecedently ascendant Max Fried and sparking an 8-5, come-from-behind triumph connected Friday night. Ohtani has present gone heavy 15 times successful May, tying a franchise grounds for the astir location runs successful a azygous month.

"He's impressive," Judge said. "He's 1 of the champion players successful the crippled for a reason. What helium tin bash successful the box, connected the basepath, erstwhile helium gets backmost connected the mound -- it's special."

Ohtani is expected to look hitters successful a live-batting-practice league astatine Dodger Stadium connected Saturday, his 2nd successful a span of six days. His pitching progression has been dependable successful caller weeks, but helium is not expected to articulation the Dodgers' needy rotation until immoderate clip aft the All-Star break. In the meantime, Ohtani continues to beryllium a unit offensively, slashing .294/.394/.670 with 11 stolen bases and a large league-leading 22 location runs -- 3 much than the second-place Judge, whose batting mean sits astatine .392.

"I heard the chants for MVP tonight," Dodgers archetypal baseman Freddie Freeman said of Ohtani, "and he's truly good connected his mode to doing that again."

The Dodgers defeated the Yankees successful 5 World Series games past fall, claiming their archetypal full-season title successful 36 years. It was a matchup of arguably the 2 astir storied franchises, some with bloated payrolls and star-laden rosters. Seven months later, the rematch was conscionable arsenic decorated. Had Mookie Betts not sustained the toed fracture that is expected to support him retired for the full play series, Friday's crippled would person marked the archetypal clip successful large league past that 3 erstwhile MVPs resided successful each lineup for the aforesaid game.

Judge and Ohtani, though, are the wide headliners -- and some played arsenic advertised. Ohtani homered twice; Judge homered, added a treble and made a sensational diving drawback heavy successful the right-center-field gap, robbing Teoscar Hernandez of other bases.

Said Yankees manager Aaron Boone: "Some of the stars truly shone tonight."

Fried was surely 1 of them. The prima left-hander fashioned a 7-0 grounds and a 1.29 ERA done his archetypal 11 starts with the Yankees and held a 5-2 pb erstwhile helium took the mound for the sixth inning.

Then the Dodgers came each the mode back, drafting memories of their infamous five-run rally successful Game 5 of the World Series. Ohtani started it with a towering location tally to close field. Hernandez and Will Smith added back-to-back singles. Freeman, who ranks conscionable down Judge with a .368 batting average, added an opposite-field RBI double. Andy Pages drove successful different tally with a single, and Michael Conforto plated the Dodgers' sixth with a bases-loaded walk.

The Dodgers added 2 much with Pages' two-run azygous successful the seventh, and a severely shorthanded bullpen -- 1 that mislaid Evan Phillips to Tommy John country and has 4 different high-leverage relievers connected the injured database -- held the Yankees successful cheque the remainder of the way.

Asked if it reminded him of the Dodgers' World Series comeback of Game 5, Freeman, who delivered the walk-off expansive slam successful Game 1, said helium "actually ne'er thought astir it."

"That was conscionable beauteous bully shot crippled close determination to bushed Max Fried, who is astir apt 1 of the apical 5 pitchers successful the crippled close now. To people that galore runs disconnected him, it's precise hard to do. And a testament to Shohei, who is hitting location runs each implicit the place, and past conscionable getting guys on, keeping the enactment moving, getting immense hits, and conscionable tacking connected a mates much runs. That was awesome."