Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a little extra zip on his fastball. Shohei Ohtani even admitted to some nerves. There was little doubt this was no ordinary baseball game. But the Japanese players who were playing in front of their home country at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday night handled any jitters they had quite well,

In what was a display of Japanese baseball excellence, Ohtani’s teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto faced off against Shota Imanaga, marking the first game in MLB history which featured two Japanese-born starting pitchers in an Opening Day game.

TOKYO – Shohei Ohtani met the moment in his return to the Tokyo Dome, because of course he did. In Saturday’s exhibition against the Yomiuri Giants, Ohtani – ever the showman – was quick to slug a home run while wearing a major league uniform in his home country for the first time for the Los Angeles Dodgers.