The showdown between baseball titans Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge brought fans pouring into Angel Stadium for Monday night’s game between the Angels and the New York Yankees.
Ohtani had the first big moment, and it proved to be the winning hit.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, with Mike Trout on base after hitting a single, Ohtani took Frankie Montas’ 1-and-2 splitter over the right-center-field wall for his 29th home run of the season. The shot propelled the Angels to a two-run lead over the American League East-leading Yankees en route to a 4-3 victory to open the series. It was the Angels’ fourth consecutive win.
Then Judge, who had been intentionally walked two times on the night, showed off his talents.
In the top of the eighth inning, with one out and none on, Judge took Ryan Tepera’s 1-and-1 curveball into the waterfall in center for a home run. It was homer No.50 for the slugger chasing Roger Maris’ Yankees single-season home run record (61).
On Monday, Ohtani and Judge both were greeted by “M-V-P” chants from an Angel Stadium crowd that featured many pinstriped jerseys.
Their first few at-bats lacked flair. In the first inning, Judge grounded out and Ohtani grounded into a double play.
The Yankees caused enough commotion in the third inning (two men on and a 1-1 score) and fifth (one on, two outs, 2-2 score) to prompt Angels starter José Suarez to intentionally walk Judge both times. A choir of boos rang out in response. The moves proved to be smart for Suarez, who opted to get the final out both times with Andrew Benintendi at the plate.
Ohtani, meanwhile, completed his second at-bat with a swinging strikeout on Montas’ 1-and-2 splitter. His third at-bat added to his lore as a pitcher and power hitter.
Luis Rengifo and Mike Ford each hit a solo home run for the Angels, with Rengifo’s homer putting the Angels up 1-0 in the second inning and Ford’s tying the score at 2 in the fourth. A run-scoring sacrifice bunt by DJ LeMahieu in the third inning and a solo home run by Anthony Rizzo in the fourth got New York its first two runs.
Ohtani and Judge won’t face each other as pitcher and batter over the remaining two games in Anaheim between the Angels and the Yankees. The battle between the AL’s most valuable player front-runners continues Tuesday night.
The Angels already have said who their pick for MVP would be: Ohtani. The Yankees, on Monday, chimed in with their thoughts.
Yankee second baseman Gleyber Torres didn’t mince words when he declared Judge the rightful winner. Nestor Cortes, an injured starting pitcher for New York, deliberated a little more.
“I think what Judge is doing now is pretty incredible and how he’s carrying this first-place team,” Cortes said. “Ohtani, he’s doing a lot of good things, but [the Angels are] not in first place. So I think what Aaron Judge is doing now holds a lot of value.”
Yankee manager Aaron Boone, answering a question about what he thinks of Judge’s season, compared it to the ones Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire had in 1998, when the National League MVP conversations were about those players. Boone also described Judge as a good, all-around player for his contributions in center field, his power bat and his speed on the basepaths.
Those descriptions are also used in the way the Angels talk about Ohtani, which interim manager Phil Nevin reiterated before Monday’s game, as well.
“I told you guys, as much as I love the guy across the way, I mean what our guy does,” Nevin started, “until somebody comes in to do those things offensively and then pitch on the mound the way he does. As far as value to this game and this league, I think it’s Shohei.”
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