Ohtani outduels Judge as Dodgers drop Yankees
-
Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — The New York Yankees‘ return to Dodger Stadium, the site of a star-studded World Series and an improbable Game 1, was billed as one of this season’s most anticipated matchups. It began in unprecedented fashion, with Aaron Judge homering in the top of the first and Shohei Ohtani answering in the bottom half, marking the first time two reigning MVPs have homered in the same inning of the same game.
In the end, Ohtani prevailed.
The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ two-way phenomenon added another homer in the sixth, igniting a four-run rally against a previously dominant Max Fried and sparking an 8-5, come-from-behind victory Friday night. Ohtani has now gone deep 15 times in May, tying a franchise record for the most home runs in a single month.
“He’s impressive,” Judge said. “He’s one of the best players in the game for a reason. What he can do in the box, on the basepath, once he gets back on the mound — it’s special.”
Ohtani is expected to face hitters in live batting practice at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, his second session in a span of six days. His pitching progression has been steady in recent weeks, but he is not expected to join the Dodgers’ needy rotation until some time after the All-Star break. In the meantime, Ohtani continues to be a force offensively, slashing .294/.394/.670 with 11 stolen bases and a major-league-leading 22 home runs — three more than the second-place Judge, whose batting average sits at .392.
“I heard the chants for MVP tonight,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said of Ohtani, “and he’s really well on his way to doing that again.”
The Dodgers defeated the Yankees in five World Series games in the fall, claiming their first full-season championship in 36 years. It was a matchup of arguably the two most storied franchises, both with bloated payrolls and star-laden rosters. Seven months later, the rematch was just as decorated. Had Mookie Betts not sustained the toe fracture that is expected to keep him out for the entire weekend series, Friday’s game would have marked the first time in major league history that three former MVPs resided in each lineup for the same game.
Judge and Ohtani, though, are the clear headliners, and both played as advertised. Ohtani homered twice; Judge homered, added a double and made a sensational diving catch deep in the right-center-field gap, robbing Teoscar Hernandez of extra bases.
“Some of the stars really shone tonight,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Fried was certainly one of them. The star left-hander fashioned a 7-0 record and 1.29 ERA through his first 11 starts with the Yankees and held a 5-2 lead when he took the mound for the sixth inning.
Then the Dodgers came all the way back, drawing memories of their infamous five-run rally in Game 5 of the World Series. Ohtani started it with a towering home run to right field. Hernandez and Will Smith added back-to-back singles. Freeman, who ranks just behind Judge with a .368 batting average, added an opposite-field RBI double. Andy Pages drove in another run with a single, and Michael Conforto plated the Dodgers’ sixth with a bases-loaded walk.
The Dodgers added two more with Pages’ two-run single in the seventh, and a severely short-handed bullpen — one that lost Evan Phillips to Tommy John surgery and has four other high-leverage relievers on the injured list — held the Yankees in check the rest of the way.
Asked if it reminded him of the Dodgers’ World Series comeback of Game 5, Freeman, who delivered the walk-off grand slam in Game 1, said he “actually never thought about it.”
“That was just pretty good ballgame right there to beat Max Fried, who is probably one of the top five pitchers in the game right now,” Freeman said. “To score that many runs off him, it’s very hard to do. And a 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.”
Tyler Johnson has announced his retirement after playing 13 NHL seasons and winning the Stanley Cup twice with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Johnson called it a career in a lengthy message posted on social media Monday. Johnson had battled injuries in recent years and is set to turn 35 on July 29.
“As a short kid from a small town, I saw my chances of playing in the NHL as very slim,” Johnson wrote on Instagram. “But my family — my parents, Ken and Debbie, and my grandparents — believed in me when doubt clouded my mind. Their unwavering faith turned that dream into reality.”
Listed at 5-foot-8 and 191 pounds, Johnson won at just about ever level, capturing the Western Hockey League and Memorial Cup championships in 2008 with his hometown Spokane Chiefs and the Calder Cup championship with Norfolk of the American Hockey League in 2012.
The NHL brought more success, as he skated in 863 regular-season and playoff games since debuting in the league in 2013, putting up 498 points. Johnson was part of the Lightning’s core when they reached the final in 2015 and helped them hoist the Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21.
Johnson finished with Chicago, playing three seasons with the Blackhawks, and Boston, signing with the Bruins early last season following his training camp tryout.
“After a lifetime devoted to hockey, I’m ready for what’s next,” Johnson said. “This moment is bittersweet, but I leave the game with no regrets.”
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Mammoth re-signed center Jack McBain to a five-year contract worth $21.25 million on Monday.
McBain will count $4.25 million against the salary cap through the 2029-30 NHL season, which was announced a little more than 24 hours since the team elected salary arbitration with the restricted free agent forward.
“He is a big, strong, physical player who competes hard on a nightly basis and brings a gritty toughness to our group,” general manager Bill Armstrong said. “Jack is an important part of the championship-caliber team we are building, and we look forward to having him back on our roster for the foreseeable future.”
McBain, 25, is coming off setting a career high with 27 points and playing all 82 games. He was one of six players to skate in every game of the organization’s first season in Salt Lake City.
“Jack’s versatility as a player, his care for his teammates and his demonstrated willingness to do whatever it takes to win, are all critical elements to our future team success,” president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong said.
McBain has 82 points in 241 games with the franchise, which moved to Utah from Arizona. Since debuting in April 2022, he ranks third in the league with 832 hits.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike