LOS ANGELES — The marching band played on the concourse, the radio talk show went live from the warning track in front of the home dugout and the drone for the television broadcast took flight.
And yet the October-style intensity did not get going until a pair of MVPs hit first-inning home runs. The spectacle didn’t stop there.
There was plenty to savor in the opener of a weekend World Series rematch, with Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers getting the best of Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees in an 8-5 victory.
It opened as the heavyweight fight it was billed to be when Judge hit a home run off of Tony Gonsolin as the second batter of the game. Ohtani matched that in the bottom of the first when he connected on Max Fried’s first pitch of the game.
“I think both teams started on a really good note,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “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.”
By the time it ended, the memories of the clinching Game 5 of last year’s World Series were so rich it played out like a reenactment, only with Dodgers fans on hand to savor what went down in the Bronx last fall.
“I feel like it’s a little different situation, but it’s always nice to come back from a losing situation and win the game,” Ohtani said.
The Dodgers scored five runs in the fifth inning of the Game 5 clincher in the World Series, and they delivered four in the sixth on Friday to rally from multiple three-run deficits.
No pair of reigning league MVPs had ever hit home runs in the first inning of the same game. The last time it happened in any inning of the same game was in 2003 when the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics’ Miguel Tejada did it.
“When you see a bunch of superstars on the field, that’s exciting,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game, while also trying to play down the importance of a May series. “I love watching great players, but it is still another ball game that still counts the same. But, yeah, when you’re playing a great team, a great franchise, and certainly it should kind of ramp up a little bit.”
Ohtani was the star of all stars when his second home run of the game brought the Dodgers within 5-3 in the sixth. The deficit was cut to 5-4 on an RBI double to left field from World Series MVP Freddie Freeman.
The Dodgers tied it at 5-5 on an RBI single from Andy Pages against Jonathan Loaisiga. After pinch hitter Max Muncy was walked intentionally to load the bases with one out, Michael Conforto put the Dodgers up 6-5 with a walk against left-hander Tim Hill.
“It was awesome,” Conforto said of the atmosphere. “Crowd was into it. A lot of big moments out there, some big hits, timely hitting by our guys.”
Pages’ two-run single in the seventh came against Yerry De los Santos.
The Dodgers also managed to hand Fried (7-1) his first loss of the season. The left-hander and Harvard-Westlake product matched a season high by allowing six runs in five-plus innings. His eight hits allowed were also a season high.
“That was just a pretty good ball game right there to beat Max Fried, who is probably a top-five pitcher in the game right now,” Freeman said. “To score that many runs off him, it’s very hard to do. And 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.”
Freeman was getting extended treatment afterward on his balky right ankle following a run-down play and a run scored on Pages’ two-run single when his perfect slide just avoided the tag of Yankees catcher Austin Wells.
“I feel good. I’m not thinking about my ankle at all right now,” Freeman said. “I mean, it’s taped with heel lifts, so we’re just trying to manage it. Sliding and rundowns probably didn’t help it so much with a 4 o’clock game (Saturday), but I feel good.”
Gonsolin (3-1) was rocked for four home runs in the first three innings but managed to deliver six innings, and the bullpen took it from there with Alex Vesia closing out the ninth inning for his second save.
Judge crushed a 446-foot home run to center in the first, before Ohtani covered it with a 417-foot shot to center.
“I felt like he was copying me,” Judge joked about Ohtani. “It’s just he’s impressive, you know. He’s one of the best players in the game for a reason. You know what he can do.”
By the time the third inning was complete, the Yankees had a 5-2 lead on home runs from Wells, Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt.
While the Yankees rolled out three former league MVPs in Judge, Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger, the Dodgers had two in Ohtani and Freeman. It would have been a third but Mookie Betts was a late scratch with a toe injury.
Each roster included an additional MVP, with pitcher Clayton Kershaw watching from the Dodgers’ dugout, while Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is on the injured list.
It was an elite show anyway with 53,276 on hand paying a premium price for a display that still offered plenty of value. As the Dodgers earned a much-needed victory following a 3-3 road trip, they ended the Yankees’ six-game winning streak.
New York had also won nine of its previous 10 games and 11 of 13.
“You know, people are asking if it’s personal, this and that,” Judge said of playing against the Dodgers. “Every game we play is personal. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We just got done with the series against the Angels and that series was personal. … We weren’t able to come away with a win here, but it’s time to bounce back and get them (Saturday).”