Shohei Ohtani leads the six-game reversal of the World Series to repeat the fierce battle to interpret the 'sense of urgency'

On a warm May night, the air at Dodger Stadium was filled with the whispers of last October. The Yankees returned to Chavez Canyon with an unfinished mission, but the Dodgers reminded their opponents of why they were still the defending champions with a final victory – and the star-studded World Series repeat opener lived up to expectations, with Dodgers coming back from an 8-5 win over the Yankees today to bring the two teams back up against each other seven months ago.

Despite the apparent reduction in the importance of the game, both sides showed a strong desire to win. "It showed the intensity of the game," said Dodgers coach Dave Roberts, "and there was a sense of urgency from Aaron Boone to my schedule, and it was a battle that we all wanted to win." The first inning set the tone for the night: Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani hit back-to-back shots to become the first innings in history to hit a home run. Ohtani leveled the score at 1-1, but Tony Gonsolin hit three more in the next two innings to put the Dodgers 2-5 down at the end of the third inning.

Ohtani's performance is not over yet. He blasted a cupola in six innings — a game-changing home run that shattered Yankees starter Max Fried's 1.29 ERA in the first 11 games. "He might say it's just a normal game," Roberts interpreted, "but when you see the current MVP doing well on the opposite side, I believe it will fuel Ohtani's desire to compete even more." Ohtani's 22nd run of the season opened the Dodgers' five-game hit streak in a single inning, and Fried withdrew. Andy Pages hit a well-timed hit to tie the score, and Michael Conforto squeezed back the lead with a full home run and four points in the inning.

The scene is reminiscent of Game 5 of the World Series, when the Dodgers took advantage of a Yankees' defensive error to go from 5-0 down to launch a five-point lead and eventually win the championship. "The situation is a little different," Mr. Ohtani said through translation Will Ireton, "but it's always nice to come back from a disadvantage." Defending World Series MVP Freddie Freeman didn't need to hit a second run to recreate the classic performance, with a three-game run including a second-run hit in a six-inning comeback.

Dodgers and Yankees share the ambition of returning to the World Series. Los Angeles is trying to achieve something that no one has done in more than two decades: defending its title. The last time they won the championship in a row was the New York Yankees from 1998 to 2000. From a multi-dimensional point of view, the start of the season means a turn from 2024. The Dodgers' championship celebration will still be revisited at some point in 2025, but the journey to defend the title needs to be based on the present rather than dwelling on the past.

"We didn't even face the same pitchers last October — all three starters were replaced," Freeman noted, "and it was a reunion, but there were new faces in the locker rooms on both sides, and we didn't think about that at all." It's all about winning, and we're off to a good start. "This tense weekend series is just a tiny footnote to the Dodgers' title defense.