LOS ANGELES -- On a balmy evening at the end of May, there were whispers of last October in the air at Dodger Stadium.
The Yankees were back at Chavez Ravine, this time with unfinished business. But the Dodgers had the last word and reminded their foes just why they are the defending champions.
The opening act of a star-studded World Series rematch did not disappoint, with the Dodgers rallying from an early deficit to beat the Yankees, 8-5, on Friday night. Two teams that had been battling it out for a ring seven months ago, facing off again.
Even with decidedly lower stakes, both teams were hungry in this regular-season matchup.
"I think what it speaks to is the intensity of the game," manager Dave Roberts said. "I think you can see the way that Aaron [Boone] managed with urgency, I managed with urgency, and it was a game that we both wanted."
The first inning set the tone for a big evening when Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani both went deep, becoming the first pair of reigning MVPs to homer in the same frame. Ohtani's solo shot tied the game at a run apiece, but Tony Gonsolin went on to serve up three more homers in the next two innings to put L.A. down 5-2 after the third.
But Ohtani wasn't done. He led off the sixth with a towering blast -- a turning point against Yankees starter Max Fried, who had not allowed more than two earned runs in his first 11 starts.
"He would probably say it's just like any other game," Roberts said, "but I do think that when you see the reigning MVP on the other side, and going out there and performing, that brings out even more of a competitor in Shohei."
Ohtani's MLB-leading 22nd homer of the season was the first of five straight Dodgers hits that inning, chasing Fried from the game. Andy Pages tied it up with an RBI single, and Michael Conforto walked with the bases loaded to bring in the go-ahead run. All four runs that scored that inning were charged to Fried.
It bore some resemblance to the game-tying fifth-inning rally in Game 5 of the World Series, when the Dodgers capitalized on a number of Yankees miscues in the field to storm back from down 5-0 to eventually clinch the championship.
"I feel like it's a little different situation," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton, "but it's always nice to come back from a losing situation and win the game."
No walk-off heroics were needed from reigning World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, but he reprised his standout Fall Classic performance nicely by racking up three hits, including an RBI double in the Dodgers' sixth-inning rally.
Both the Dodgers and Yankees have realistic aspirations of getting back to the World Series this year. L.A. is trying to do something that no team has done in more than two decades: repeat as champions.
The last club to do so was New York, which won three in a row from 1998-2000.
In many ways, the beginning of this season has been about turning the page from 2024. The Dodgers' celebration of their championship has carried over into '25 in moments they've savored along the way -- but in defending their title, they're trying to build off last season without getting stuck in the past.
"I mean, we're not even facing pitchers that we faced last year in October. Three different starting pitchers," Freeman said. "I know it's a rematch of the teams, but I mean, there's a lot of guys in both clubhouses that weren't part of it, so not really thinking about that. Just trying to get wins right now. And we were able to start it off with a good one."
The weekend series against the Yankees, as heightened as it feels, is just one small part of the Dodgers' title defense.