Los Angeles. Reigning MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani delivered historic home runs in the first inning Friday night as the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers met in a high-stakes rematch of last year’s World Series.

Judge opened the scoring with a 446-foot solo shot to dead center on a 1-1 pitch from Tony Gonsolin. It marked the Yankees slugger’s 19th home run of the season, tying him with Kyle Schwarber for the third-most in the majors.

Ohtani responded in the bottom half with a 417-foot homer to center off Max Fried’s first pitch, thrilling a sellout crowd of 53,276 at Dodger Stadium.

"I felt like he was copying me," Judge said with a grin.

It was the first time in Major League Baseball history that reigning MVPs homered in the first inning of the same game. Barry Bonds of the Giants and Miguel Tejada of the A’s were previously the first reigning MVPs to homer in the same game, including postseason, on June 30, 2002.

"I really thought it was important to be able to score another run in that situation, knowing that momentum is really important," Ohtani said through a translator.

Judge played down the head-to-head drama.

“Try not to think about it,” he said. “I’ve got a job to do on the field; make plays, score runs. You try not to get too hyped into that.”

Ohtani added to his highlight reel in the sixth, leading off with a solo homer to right-center. After initially missing first base, he doubled back to touch it, sparking a four-run rally that helped the Dodgers secure an 8-5 victory, their 19th come-from-behind win of the season.

The blast pushed Ohtani’s MLB-leading home run total to 22 and tied the Dodgers’ franchise record for most in a single month with 15.

“We always seem to play really well when Shohei’s playing well,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “I heard the chants for MVP and he’s well on his way to doing that again.”

According to OptaSTATS, Ohtani is the first player since 1901 to record 60 runs before June.

The Japanese two-way star has homered in five of his last five games, with four coming on either the first or second pitch of the at-bat.

Judge praised Ohtani’s consistency.

“Year after year, he keeps going up there and putting up these numbers,” Judge said. “Every at-bat, you don’t know if he’s going to rip a ball to me in right field or take a Max Fried fastball opposite field.”

The Dodgers defeated the Yankees in five games to claim their eighth world championship in 2024.

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