Friday’s matchup between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers marks the first time the two teams have played since the 2024 World Series. And as you may expect, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge didn’t disappoint in making their mark for their respective teams.
Both Ohtani and Judge, who both won the MVP award in their respective leagues, came into the game in the midst of terrific seasons that have them as the clear frontrunners to repeat in their pursuit of back-to-back MVP awards. And Friday’s game perhaps further backed both their claims of doing exactly that.
The superstars played like superstars from the very start of Friday’s game, which Judge started off in the top of the first inning with a solo home run off of Tony Gonsolin to give the Yankees an early lead.
446-ft 💣 for the Captain. #AllRise pic.twitter.com/6C5kbWIlQo
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 31, 2025
However, the lead didn’t last long thanks to Ohtani, who matched Judge immediately with a home run on the first pitch he saw from Yankees pitcher Max Fried in the bottom of the first inning.
First pitch? Sho-off. pic.twitter.com/paPEkOsItx
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 31, 2025
The pair of home runs from Judge and Ohtani made MLB history in the process, as it was the first time that a pair of reigning MVPs had ever hit a home run in the first inning of the same game.
Tonight marks the first time in MLB history both reigning MVPs homered in the first inning of the same game.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 31, 2025
It’s truly awesome to see the two best players in the world showing out on such a big stage between these two contenders in their respective leagues. So for the remainder of the series, don’t be surprised to see Ohtani and Judge match each other even more moving forward as they continue to battle for the claim of being the best player in all of baseball.
