Shohei Ohtani made his World Series debut on Friday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers hosted the New York Yankees for the opening encounter of the best-of-seven clash for the ultimate prize in baseball.
Ohtani recorded his maiden hit of the Fall Classic with a crucial extra-base knock before capitalizing on an error by the opposition to swipe another base, which helped the Dodgers score a game-tying run.
MLB posted a clip of the incident on X, formerly called Twitter. Here's the video:
Gerrit Cole started on the mound for the New York Yankees, and Shohei Ohtani had a difficult time against the right-hander in the opening half. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar couldn't get a hit or walk in three at-bats against him, which also included a strikeout. The Dodgers trailed the Yankees 2-1 after seven innings, even though they had led early.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shohei Ohtani came up to the batter's box for his fourth-place appearance of the game, with the Dodgers having one out and the bases empty. He faced Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle on the hill as his team desperately needed him to come up with a big hit.
On a 1-0 count, Kahnle delivered an 87-mph changeup right over the middle of the strike zone. Ohtani jumped at the pitch and crushed a sharp line drive over the head of Juan Soto on the right field fence. The Yankees right fielder got a good read on the ball to collect it quickly off the wall before releasing a sharp throw to second base as Ohtani hustled to complete an extra-base hit.
However, Gleyber Torres, the Yankees second baseman, failed to gather the throw cleanly, and the ball bounced off his glove to the middle of the infield diamond. Shohei Ohtani needed no second invitation to take advantage of the mistake and easily advanced to third base without being challenged.
The play eventually proved to be the turning point for the Dodgers to launch a dramatic late comeback.
Clutch extra base hit from Shohei Ohtani propels incredible Dodgers comeback
The extra-base hit and stolen base from Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the eighth inning provided the impetus for the Los Angeles Dodgers to produce an incredible comeback win over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
Mookie Betts drove him in with a sacrifice fly in the very next at-bat to level the scores at 2-2 before the game headed into extra innings. The Yankees went ahead once more in the 10th inning before the Dodgers sealed a 6-3 victory, thanks to a walk-off grand slam by Freddie Freeman.