TOKYO -- After a star-studded Opening Day in Japan on Tuesday, the Tokyo Series wrapped up with a Dodgers sweep of the Cubs at the Tokyo Dome.
Led by Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers beat the Cubs, 6-3, on Wednesday to take both games in Japan to open the 2025 MLB regular season.
Ohtani crushed his first home run of the season and Sasaki showcased his electric stuff in one of the most hyped MLB debuts in recent memory as the reigning World Series champions return to L.A. undefeated.
Tokyo Series 2025: Dodgers vs. Cubs
? Ohtani rises to occasion, electrifies Tokyo Dome with 1st HR
? All the top moments from Tokyo Series Game 2
? Sasaki makes highly anticipated MLB debut
? Cubs hope Tokyo's 'playoff environment' a sign of things to come
? Sadaharu Oh has never seen this 'level of excitement'
? Ohtani ignites Dodgers past Cubs in Tokyo Series opener
? Top moments from Tokyo Series Game 1
? Imanaga bests Ohtani in 'made for TV' Tokyo matchup
? 'I'll remember everything': Shaw makes much-anticipated debut
? Pok¨¦mon front and center as Tokyo Series celebrates Japanese icons
? Tokyo school visit all about Japan's baseball future
Here are the top 10 moments from Game 2 of the Tokyo Series.
1. Ohtani lives up to the moment
Man, what more can we say about Ohtani? He was the star of the show on Tuesday night and once again was the story on Wednesday. The man whose face seems to grace every billboard and advertising placard throughout Tokyo hammered a ball to the wall in the first inning -- the collective cheer seemingly hoping to give it the extra boost it needed.
He would succeed in the fifth: The Dodgers superstar got a hold of a 99 mph fastball from Cubs reliever Nate Pearson and hit a skyscraper that just cleared the right-center-field wall. Ohtani's blast extended L.A.'s lead to 6-2.
Ohtani became the second Japanese player to homer in an MLB regular-season game at the Tokyo Dome. Hideki Matsui was the first, doing so for the Yankees in 2004.
The home run call stood after a review to see if it had cleared the boundary of the fence before it was touched by a fan.
2. The fans really, really wanted to see Ohtani
The energy shifted in the Tokyo Dome every time Ohtani got even close to the plate. When the fans realized that he would get one final at-bat in the top of the ninth, a jolt of electricity spread through the park like a psychic form of the wave. And when he stepped to the dish, nearly every single fan -- and many of the writers in the pressbox -- wanted to capture a moment of his glory, lifting their cameras and phones to remember that they were here when Ohtani returned to the Tokyo Dome.
When Ohtani was intentionally walked in the seventh inning, the first boos all weekend rung around the jam-packed Tokyo Dome.
And in the ninth inning, when Miguel Rojas got on base, ensuring that he would get one more at-bat? The crowd roared. Unfortunately, the storybook ending wasn't to be: Ohtani drew a walk this time to end his ballgame.
The Tokyo faithful got one more chance to see Ohtani before the night was over, though: Baseball's remarkable Unicorn was brought out for Japan's traditional on-field MVP interview.
3. Sasaki makes his MLB debut
It would have been noteworthy had Sasaki, the Dodgers' new young fireballer, started his career in Los Angeles. But to do it in Tokyo, in front of his home country's fans? It was perfect timing.
Sasaki showed off the repertoire that made him so highly sought after this winter, but the youngster was perhaps battling nerves as he struggled with command, walking five batters in just three innings of work. Still, he kept the Dodgers in the game, wriggling out of a bases-loaded jam in his final inning.
Sasaki walked in one run but escaped major damage with back-to-back K's to end the inning and keep Los Angeles ahead, 3-1.
He rang up Michael Busch on a 98 mph fastball and then fanned Matt Shaw on a nasty 86 mph slider, pumping his fist as he walked off the mound.
4. Top prospect Matt Shaw collects 1st career hit, flashes leather
Back in the Tokyo Dome where Shaw played this fall for Team USA in the Premier12, the Cubs' No. 1 prospect picked up his first career hit in the fifth inning.
The rookie third baseman legged out an infield single on a chopper that deflected off pitcher Jack Dreyer's glove.
Shaw also showed off his glove, making a terrific diving stop at third base to rob Tommy Edman of a hit in the seventh inning.
He would get a chance to tie the game up in the ninth, and he hit the ball hard but ...
5. Rojas flashes the leather
Miguel Rojas is a defensive wizard and he showed that off on Wednesday night. He saved his best for the end of the game: With Shaw up as the tying run, Rojas ranged deep in the hole and making a long throw to first to get Shaw for the final out.
The Dodgers will go back to America undefeated, and as World Series champions, they are the only team with a winning streak that stretches back to last season.
6. Edman hits 1st home run of 2025
Tommy Edman is just a different hitter on the Dodgers. The NLCS MVP was back in the Tokyo Dome, where he played as a member of Team Korea in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. On Wednesday, Edman smashed the first home run of the 2025 season, taking Justin Steele deep in the third inning of Game 2, extending the Dodgers' lead to 3-0.
Edman turned on a fastball at the top of the strike zone and launched it over the left-field fence, bringing the Tokyo Dome crowd to its feet.
7. Tucker notches 1st Cubs hit
Kyle Tucker ripped his first Cubs hit in the ninth inning -- a 104 mph opposite-field double off the wall in left field.
Tucker was Chicago's marquee offseason addition, acquired in a trade with the Astros in December.
8. Kik¨¦ goes yard
Think Kik¨¦ Hern¨˘ndez likes big moments? The Dodgers' postseason hero crushed the team's second home run of the day, a 110 mph rocket to deep left field off Steele that extended Los Angeles' lead to 5-1 in the fourth inning.
Hern¨˘ndez's home run was a no-doubter, and the Tokyo Dome crowd knew it.
Hern¨˘ndez clearly was having a good time in Tokyo, even arriving to Tuesday's game in a special custom Japan national team soccer kit.
9. Muncy gets hit in 5th different country
Move over, Pitbull: Max Muncy is Mr. Worldwide. Muncy's second-inning double gave the Dodgers third baseman a hit in five different countries in his career: the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South Korea and now Japan.
Muncy became the fourth MLB player with a hit in five different countries or territories, joining Edgardo Alfonzo, Paul Goldschmidt and Xander Bogaerts.
10. Taiko drums, Little Glee Monster, Uehara 1st pitch highlight pregame festivities
After Tuesday's Pok¨¦mon-themed team introductions -- complete with larger-than-life Pikachu mascots on the field -- the Dodgers and Cubs were introduced in Game 2 to Japanese "Taiko" drums.
Then the J-pop group Little Glee Monster performed the U.S. and Japan national anthems.
And former reliever Koji Uehara, who pitched for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2013 and finished his MLB career with the Cubs, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.