Shohei Ohtani goes deep twice as Dodgers dominate Yankees

LOS ANGELES – In Game 5 of the World Series, the Dodgers staged a remarkable comeback in the fifth inning. On Friday, they achieved another incredible turnaround in the sixth inning, thanks to Shohei Ohtani's two home runs. The Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 8-5 at Dodger Stadium, with an impressive crowd of 53,276 fans in attendance.

The Dodgers' offense came alive in the sixth and seventh innings, scoring a total of six runs after initially posting two runs, with Shohei Ohtani hitting a leadoff home run, No. 21 of the season.

Ohtani scored his 60th run of the season after hitting his 21st home run. No other MLB player in the modern era has reached this milestone before June. He kicked off the rally in the sixth inning with his second home run of the game, bringing his MLB-leading total to 22 home runs. In the month of May alone, Ohtani has now hit 15 home runs.

Ohtani’s 15 home runs in May tie Duke Snider and Pedro Guerrero for the most home runs in a single month in Dodger history.

Freddie Freeman continued his strong hitting against the Yankees, a trend that dates back to the World Series. He went 3-for-4 with an RBI double in the sixth inning, driving in Teoscar Hernandez, who had singled after Ohtani’s home run. 

Andy Pages added to the scoring with an RBI single in the sixth and a two-run single in the seventh inning. Overall, Pages finished the night with a 2-for-3 performance, collecting three runs batted in.

Left-handed pitcher Max Fried, who attended Harvard-Westlake High School, had a challenging outing, pitching five-plus innings. He gave up eight hits and six runs, marking his worst start of the season. Before this game on Friday, Fried had an impressive 1.29 ERA over his first 11 starts, during which he allowed two or more runs in only two games. The Dodgers took advantage of Fried early, scoring two runs in the first two innings and adding four more in the sixth.

Fried, 31, struck out three batters and did not issue any walks over 75 pitches, resulting in his first loss of the season and raising his ERA to 1.92. Meanwhile, the Yankees had allowed a total of eight runs during their five-game winning streak, and on Friday, they surrendered eight runs against the Dodgers.

The Yankees took advantage of right-hander Tony Gonsolin, allowing four home runs in the first three innings. In his previous five starts, Gonsolin had only allowed four home runs total.

Aaron Judge kicked off the night with an impressive home run, his 19th of the season, as he drove a fastball from Gonsolin, clocked at 89 mph, over Page's head for a distance of 446 feet. Overall, Judge had a great performance, finishing 2-for-3, which included a double in the eighth inning.

In the second inning, Austin Wells hit a two-run home run, followed by Trent Grisham, who contributed a solo home run, giving the Yankees an early lead over the Dodgers. Gonsolin struggled to find his rhythm in the first few innings, but he eventually settled down and did not allow a hit in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.

Gonsolin battled through six innings of work, allowing six hits and five runs, while recording four strikeouts and three walks. It was a challenging start for him, as it seemed he might not make it through the third inning. However, Dave Roberts had to ride him longer due to the fragile state of the pitching staff, which has been affected by injuries and an overload of work over the past week. Although it wasn’t his best performance, Gonsolin’s outing was enough to secure his third win of the season in his sixth start.

The Dodgers’ bullpen kept the Yankees scoreless for the rest of the game. Left-hander Jack Dreyer pitched for an inning, followed by Ben Casparius, Tanner Scott, and Alex Vesia, who secured his second save of the season.

Both teams will quickly move on to game two of the series on Saturday afternoon. The Dodgers will start right-hander Landon Knack (2-2, 5.22 ERA), while the Yankees will send right-hander Will Warren (3-2, 4.09 ERA) to the mound.