Aaron Judge robs Shohei Ohtani of a homer in first inning of Wednesday’s game [VIDEO]

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge robbed Los Angeles Angels slugger Shohei Ohtani of a home run in the first inning of their game on Wednesday. Judge is getting a rare start in center field, but he showed that he has the defensive chops to be able to lock down the position. Judge then hit a home run in his first at-bat.

Judge is the reigning AL MVP, largely due to his 62 home runs a season ago. Ohtani came in second from his impressive hitting stats and his dominance on the mound. He is playing in the final year of his contract with the Angels and is expected to hit free agency next offseason. One of the suitors is expected to be the Yankees because, of course, they are. Today, Judge won the battle, but if Ohtani ends up joining New York, they will likely be in the hunt for winning the war of the World Series.

Judge is hitting .271 so far this season. He has two doubles, five home runs and nine RBI through 17 games. Ohtani is hitting .300 with two doubles, four home runs and 11 RBI in 16 games. He is also 2-0 on the mound with a 0.86 ERA and has struck out 27 hitters in only 21 innings of work.