Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani rekindle some World Series magic in rematch with Yankees

New York Times

2 days ago

LOS ANGELES – Major League Baseball's top executives got their wish on Friday night: a World Series rematch between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees live on a streaming service, with the game's two reigning Most Valuable Players providing immediate fireworks.
The end result wound up the same as it did last October. The Dodgers stormed back once again from a deficit, this time at home at Dodger Stadium, scoring four runs in the sixth inning to knock off the Yankees, 8-5, in the first of a three-game set that'll draw more rash reactions than are probably warranted. The stars reprised some familiar roles.
Aaron Judge struck first, as the Yankees right fielder clobbered a knee-high offering more than 440 feet to the batter's eye in center field.
Shohei Ohtani countered, driving the first pitch he saw into the bleachers in left center field for his major league-leading 21st home run and sixth leadoff home run of the season. For the second time in major league history, according to Elias Sports, the reigning MVPs had homered in the same game.
Advertisement
'I feel like he was copying me,' Judge said with a smile after.
'I really thought it was important to be able to score another run in that situation, knowing that momentum is really important in a game like today,' Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton.
The two even managed to collide in the sixth inning, as Ohtani lofted his 15th home run of the month high enough into the Los Angeles night sky that even the 6-foot-7 Judge couldn't come down with it. The night even included Yankees reliever Tim Hill in a bases-loaded spot, bringing back a critical decision point in Game 1 of last year's World Series. For a game in late May, it was a television executive's dream.
'We love superstars and to start the game off with Judge hitting a homer and Shohei answering in the bottom half was pretty exciting for everyone,' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. 'But huge game for us to win.'
The game meant little in terms of reasserting the Dodgers' place or vanquishing the Yankees' poor memories of last October. The night provided fireworks nonetheless, along with a flex for a Dodgers lineup that still had enough to charge to a much-needed victory without Mookie Betts. The All-Star was sent for X-rays on his foot after stubbing his toe at home late Wednesday night. He told the Los Angeles Times on Friday he has a fracture on the tip of his toe that he sustained by hitting his foot on the wall in the bathroom in the dark.
Just like in Game 5 of the World Series, they managed to break through against New York's current ace, with Max Fried largely cruising through five innings after the Yankees poured on five early runs (on four home runs) against the Dodgers' Tony Gonsolin. This time, however, the comeback required little assistance from the Yankees' defense.
Ohtani broke the seal with that second home run of the night. At 112.5 mph off his bat, it had just enough legs to clear a few rows past the right-field fence to rejuvenate the Dodger Stadium crowd.
Advertisement
Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith followed with sharp singles before Freddie Freeman reprised his World Series heroics. Last year's series MVP sliced a first-pitch fastball over left fielder Cody Bellinger's head for a run-scoring double. After Freeman's extended rundown between third base and home kept the Dodgers' scoring threat going, Andy Pages followed with a game-tying single.
'When you can feel a little momentum, guys getting hits, you just try and keep that line moving,' Freeman said.
By the time Yankees manager Aaron Boone summoned Hill with the bases loaded, the lead had dissipated. Michael Conforto, much maligned in his first few months in Los Angeles, drew a walk to give the Dodgers a 6-5 edge.
'You kind of get the feeling he was losing the zone a little bit,' Conforto said. 'You know, he's a ground ball guy, so I wanted to make sure it was something I could get off the ground in that situation. And he ended up pulling it inside.'
The pendulum-swinging inning will not sprout any memorable bumper stickers. Instead, the Dodgers deconstructed Fried, recording four consecutive hits to chase the Yankees' biggest offseason acquisition from the game.
'It was getting the next guy up,' Conforto said. 'We found some holes. There's also a lot of really good grindy at-bats in there, hitting some good pitches, spoiling some pitches.'
The end result was the same. Another late charge from a Dodgers team that outlasted the Yankees at just about every opportunity last October.
'This one is a big one,' Hernández said. 'We were down early. We didn't panic.'
The night did not include Betts or Giancarlo Stanton (Betts is expected to miss at least the rest of this series, Roberts said). Juan Soto now plays for the other New York team. So new characters got introduced to the fray. Jack Dreyer entered in the seventh inning, tasked with taking down the top of the Yankees' order. Fellow rookie Ben Casparius, whose first big-league start came in Game 4 of the World Series, cleaned up what would be a scoreless seventh inning before coming back out for the eighth. Tanner Scott, signed to a $72 million contract this winter but mired in struggles this month, got the Dodgers out of the inning after New York got the tying run to the plate. Pages, who was on the World Series roster but never appeared, drove home three runs with a pair of hits.
Advertisement
'I know it's a rematch of the teams, but I mean, there's a lot of guys in both clubhouses that weren't part of it, so not really thinking about that, just trying to get wins right now,' Freeman said. 'And we were able to start it off with a good one.'
They still found a way to conjure a similar magic.