WATCH: Gerrit Cole silences Shohei Ohtani with epic strikeout to close third inning in Dodgers-Yankees World Series Game1

The 2024 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers is packed with superstars on both sides, and Shohei Ohtani facing Gerrit Cole on the mound is undoubtedly the most anticipated duel of Game 1. The Yankees ace Cole drew first blood in their personal battle for supremacy after striking out the Dodgers slugger to end the third inning on Friday.

New York Post Sports posted a video clip of the final pitch of that at-bat through on X, formerly Twitter. Here's the video:

The scores were tied at 0-0 when Shohei Ohtani stepped up to the batter's box for his second plate appearance of the game with the two outs and no runners on base.

The Japanese superstar has curiously struggled at the plate in bases-empty situations this postseason. Gerrit Cole got two strikes on him, courtesy of a couple of foul balls.

At this point, Ohtani took a timeout to recompose himself, but it didn't help him much. On a 2-2 count, Cole offered him an 84 mph knucklecurve down and out of the strike zone.

The Dodgers slugger couldn't resist taking a big hack at the breaking ball, but his swing connected with nothing but thin air. It was a perfectly executed pitch from the Yankees ace to get the result he needed to end the inning.

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Gerrit Cole continues hold edge over Shohei Ohtani

Gerrit Cole still has the upper hand in his duels with Shohei Ohtani (Photo Credit: IMAGN)

Since coming into the MLB, Ohtani has terrorized opposing pitchers on the mound with numerous clutch hits and towering home runs. However, Gerrit Cole is one of the few pitchers Ohtani hasn't quite dominated over the years.

Coming into this World Series, Ohtani had only batted .200/.238/.400 against the New York Yankees ace with an OPS of .638. Cole has allowed just four hits to the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar in 20 previous at-bats, which contains two extra-base hits, three RBIs, and two home runs.

Gerrit Cole continues to hold the upper hand over Shohei Ohtani following their meeting in Game 1 of the World Series. Cole lasted for six innings and faced the left-hander three times, but Ohtani couldn't produce a hit after getting struck out or earning a walk off him.