Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani Set MLB Record in 2024 World Series Rematch with Historic Home Runs

Reigning MLB MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani both launched a solo home run in the first inning of the Dodgers-Yankees game on Friday.

Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani Set MLB Record in 2024 World Series Rematch with Historic Home Runs

Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani (Image via Imago)

On Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees locked horns at Dodger Stadium in Southern California in a 2024 World Series rematch. The team’s superstars, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, set an MLB record with historic home runs in this game.

The two of them have been on top of the MLB rankings for quite a while. Last year, both Judge and Ohtani hit more than 50 home runs in the regular season and went on to win their league’s respective MVP award.

The game on Friday marked the first meeting between these two since Game 5 of the World Series last year. The Dodgers emerged victorious on that occasion as they won the best-of-seven series in 5 games to clinch their 8th World Series crown.

Judge, the Yankees’ captain, started off the game with a bang as he launched a solo home run in the first inning against Tony Gonsolin.

Ohtani would then answer right back as he went yard in the bottom of the first inning against Max Fried to make it a 1-1 game.

These home runs from Judge and Ohtani saw them make MLB history. This marked the first time where the two reigning MVPs had both homered in the first inning of the same inning.

The last time two reigning MVPs hit a home run in the same game, including the playoffs, were Barry Bonds and Miguel Tejada on June 20th, 2003.

Shohei Ohtani has last laugh over Aaron Judge following 8-5 victory

All eyes of the MLB world on Friday were on the Dodgers-Yankees series. Fans were left hyped up after Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani both flexed their muscles in the first inning to hit a solo home run. Ohtani eventually had the last laugh in this game as he homered again and the Dodgers won 8-5.

Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge
Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge (Image via Imago)

The Yankees found themselves 5-2 up against the Dodgers as their offense continued to rake in the 2nd and 3rd innings. Ohtani kick-started the comeback of his team with his 2nd solo home run off Max Fried in the bottom of the 6th inning. This was Ohtani’s 22nd home run of the season and the 15th he hit in the month of May.

The Dodgers scored 4 runs in the 6th inning to take a 6-5 lead. The reigning World Series winners added 2 more runs in the 7th inning and took Game 1 of the World Series rematch with an 8-5 scoreline.

Shohei Ohtani comments on returning to pitching mound

While Shohei Ohtani continues to impress the fans with his hitting, there is another aspect of him that fans are eagerly waiting to see. The Japanese international is set to return to the pitching mound this year. Following the 8-5 win over the Yankees, he commented on this matter.

Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani (Image via Imago)

The two-way star has not thrown a pitch from the mound since he got injured in 2023. After undergoing surgery on his shoulder, Ohtani did not pitch during the entirety of the 2024 season and played just as the Designated Hitter (DH) for the team.

This move worked out well for him as he began the first member of the 50-50 club by hitting 50 home runs and having 50 stolen bases.

At the moment, he is getting ready for a return to pitching. A few days ago, he took part in his first live BP and faced off real-time hitters. When asked by Tricia Whitaker about a timeline regarding his return, the 3-time MVP simply stated to ask team president Andrew Friedman about it.

If you could ask Andrew Freeman, he would probably know.

Recently, team GM Brandon Gomes also commented on this matter. As per Gomes, the team will allow him to pitch when they feel like the workload is not much on Ohtani. As a pitcher, Ohtani has a 38-19 record with a 3.01 ERA in the MLB.

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