This week is dedicated to the duel between Shoehi Ohtani and Aaron Judge. At least that’s how MLB promotes it.
If the first round clearly went to the advantage of the Japanese player, the second ended in a unanimous decision in favor of the Judge.
It all started early in the first inning, when Ohtani hit a long fly ball that ended up on the other side of the fence in center field. The tall outfielder then jumped full length to pluck the ball in long-ball territory.
It was the second time in as many seasons that the Los Angeles Angels player was robbed by the New York Yankees player.
This spectacular catch allowed the Bronx Bombers to emerge unscathed from their first while defensive. But that wasn’t enough for Judge. From his initial at bat late in the first inning, the giant catapulted the offering Griffin Canning far to right center field for his sixth home run of the campaign.
Later in the encounter, Judge confirmed his superiority over Ohtani for this second round by diving in the right lane, thus depriving Mike Trout of a hit of more than one goal and especially of the run produced which would have given the lead to the Angels.
This catch then allowed the Yankees to win the game in the tenth inning.
The two protagonists will cross swords again this afternoon from 4:05 p.m. in the last duel of the series, while an excellent pitching duel between Patrick Sandoval and Nestor Cortes Jr. is to be expected at Yankee Stadium.
