LOS ANGELES — Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani did not take long to give the sport what it craved.
The sluggers exchanged impressive home runs in the first inning on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. This event marked a historic moment in MLB history, as it was the first time both reigning MVPs hit home runs in the first inning of the same game, as reported by Stats Perform.
Judge was the first to strike, launching Tony Gonsolin’s 90 mph fastball an astounding 446 feet into the batter’s eye in center field, which gave a 1-0 lead and marked his 19th home run of the season.
Ohtani answered in the bottom of the first inning, sending Max Fried’s initial pitch soaring 417 feet to center, securing his 21st home run of the season and leveling the score.
It was a star-studded beginning to the World Series rematch.
“I like playing against the best,” Judge said in the leadup to the series. ‘You want to play against the best teams, the best players. Ohtani’s definitely one of the best players in the game, he has been for a long time. And he’s off to another fantastic start this season.”
Judge’s home run was the first of four the Yankees hit in the first three innings.
Austin Wells led off the second with a solo shot before Trent Grisham added a two-run blast — the first homer for each of them since May 12.
Paul Goldschmidt then led off the third inning with an opposite-field roundtripper.
