It was as if they had read it from a Hollywood script – and it was epic.
With one out and on the third pitch that New York Yankees right fielder and future Hall of Famer Aaron Judge saw from struggling Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin (an 89.7-MPH slider right down Broadway, no pun intended), the 33-year-old Linden, CA native crushed it for a mammoth 446-foot home run over the center field wall at Dodger Stadium for a solo home run to give the 2024 World Series runners-up a very early 1-0 lead over the defending World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
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And then, on the first pitch that Dodgers lead off designated hitter and fellow future Hall of Famer Shohei Ohtani saw from Yankees ace left-hander Max Fried (a 93.7-MPH sinker that didn’t sink enough), the 30-year-old Oshu, Japan native crushed it for an equally mammoth 417-foot home run over that same center field wall at Dodger Stadium to tie Game-1 of the series being billed as the 2024 World Series rematch at 1-1.
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And then, on the fifth pitch that Ohtani saw from Fried to lead off the bottom of the sixth (a 92.5-MPH four-seam fastball that wasn’t fast enough), Ohtani crushed it for another home run over that same center field wall at Dodger Stadium (although this one was only 377 feet), to make it 5-3 Dodgers in their eventual 8-5 win over the Bronx Bombers.
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“Those guys came out really focused, and you can see that how bad they wanted it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame of the of the Yankees. “They had their ace on the mound. For us to get behind the eight ball a little bit with runs and find a way to scratch back into the game was huge.”
That “…behind the eight ball a little bit…” was the result of the three additional home runs Gonsolin served up in his 6.0-inning/91-pitch sixth start of the season. Fortunately for him, and thanks to Ohtani and his teammates, Gonsolin was credited with the win to go 3-1 on the season. Unfortunately for him, his ERA is now a horrific 5.23, worst among the Dodgers current injury-plagued starting rotation.
Certainly worthy of mention are the three RBIs by Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages, who went 2-for-4 with two very clutch singles.
Epic Hollywood stuff indeed.
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