“Better Than Judge” – Fans React as Shohei Ohtani’s 2 Home Run Performance Helps Dodgers Win 8-5 Against Yankees

Shohei Ohtani was the star of the show for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday against the New York Yankees with 2 home runs.

“Better Than Judge” – Fans React as Shohei Ohtani’s 2 Home Run Performance Helps Dodgers Win 8-5 Against Yankees

Shohei Ohtani (Image via Imago)

The two reigning MLB MVPs, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, were in the spotlight on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed the New York Yankees. Ohtani would get the better of Judge in the first game of the 2024 World Series rematch with a 2 home run performance.

After a historic 2024 season, both Judge and Ohtani are once again having a good time at the plate. The two MVPs are once again frontrunners for this award this year.

In the game on Friday, both of them homered. Judge got things underway with a first-inning solo home run against Tony Gonsolin. The Dodgers fired back immediately as Ohtani went yard with a solo shot off Max Fried in the bottom of the first inning.

This marked the first time where the two reigning MVPs had homered in the same inning. Ohtani would do one better and hit another solo home run against Fried.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, Ohtani ignited the comeback of his team as they scored 4 runs in this inning to take a 6-5 lead. The Dodgers added 2 more runs in the 7th inning to extend their lead and went on to win the game 8-5.

Social media reacts as Shohei Ohtani shines in Dodgers’ win against Yankees

It was a battle of two heavyweights on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the New York Yankees in a 2024 World Series rematch. Shohei Ohtani lived up to the hype of this mega showdown and shined brightly with 2 huge solo home runs.

Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani (Image via Imago)

Before this game, Max Fried had not allowed more than 2 runs in his previous 11 starts. In this game, he gave up 8 hits and 6 earned runs as the Dodgers and Ohtani jumped on him.

Ohtani’s 2 run performance ignited some wild reactions on X. Several fans would compare him and Judge. One user wrote, “Better than Judge” while reacting to this performance from the Japanese international.

Check out that and some other top reactions from X below:

These 2 home runs took Ohtani’s season tally to 22. His 15 home runs in May tied Duke Snider and Pedro Guerrero for the most homers by a Dodgers player in a single month. Meanwhile, the solo shot from Aaron Judge was his 19th homer of the 2025 season.

Shohei Ohtani on pace for another record breaking season

Shohei Ohtani broke several MLB records last year as he founded the 50-50 club and claimed his 3rd unanimous MVP award. The 3-time MLB MVP is on pace for another record breaking season.

Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani (Image via Imago)

The 30-year-old currently leads the league in home runs with 22. His first home run against Max Fried on Friday was the 60th run he had scored in the league. No one in MLB history has reached this mark before June.

Last year, Ohtani batted with a .310 average and scored 134 runs in the regular season. This was the most by any batter in the league. While his engine did slow down a bit in the postseason, his performances helped the Dodgers claim their 8th World Series title.

At the moment, Ohtani is also trying to get back to being a two-way player. He has not pitched since 2023 due to a shoulder injury. He took part in his first live BP a few days ago and is scheduled to face live hitters again this week. However, an actual timeline on his return to the mound has not been fixed yet.

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