Teoscar Hernández hits 2-run double in 11th, lifts Dodgers over Yankees 2-1

NEW YORK (AP) — Teoscar Hernández reached second base, raised both hands, shimmied and twisted his right leg in a dance step that would make a Broadway choreographer proud.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees scoreless into the 11th inning of a possible World Series preview that featured five Most Valuable Players, he had broken the deadlock with a two-run double.

“It feels like the playoffs today. I like to play in this atmosphere,” Hernández said after the Dodgers' 2-1 win on Friday night stopped the Yankees' season-high, eight-game winning streak.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball in his Yankee Stadium debut, his velocity reaching a season high in the finest of his dozen Dodgers starts.

Anthony Banda, Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson, Michael Grove (4-2) and Yohan Ramírez finished a five-hitter before a season-high crowd of 48,048, the fourth sellout of the year for the AL-best Yankees (45-20).

“Feeding off the crowd I think is what made it special," said New York captain Aaron Judge, who singled in a run in the 11th. "It was packed tonight and they were on their feet from the very first pitch all the way into extra innings.”

Ramírez, pitching for his third big league team this season, got his first save in two years. After Judge’s single, he threw a called third strike past Giancarlo Stanton — whose inning-ending flyout left the bases loaded in the eighth. Ramírez retired Anthony Rizzo on a foul pop, dropping New York to 1-4 in extra innings this year.

“Man, what a game. Wow,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Roberts had a glass of bourbon on his desk after the game, courtesy of pitcher Walker Buehler — Roberts said he would skip the booze so as not to slow down for Saturday.

In a sign of the game's import, Los Angeles had six team buses to ferry players, staff and family to the team's Manhattan hotel, rather than the usual two or three.

Los Angeles, which tops the NL West at 40-25, hadn’t played in the Bronx since 2016. Yamamoto, a heralded 25-year-old right-hander, was facing the team he spurned to sign a $325 million, 12-year deal with the Dodgers.

“I appreciated their interest in me,” Yamamoto said through a translator, “but when I faced him it was a normal game.”

He allowed two hits and two walks innings with seven strikeouts, throwing a season-high 106 pitches. He threw 20 pitches faster than 97.2 mph, which had been his high coming in, reaching a maximum 98.4 mph.

Yamamoto struck out Jose Trevino to strand runners at the corners in the second, starting a streak of 12 straight outs before a two-out walk to Judge in the sixth. Yamamoto then fanned Stanton on a fastball at the top of the strike zone.

Yamamoto credited a mechanical adjustment for the velocity. Roberts thought the ballpark was a factor.

“Yankee Stadium is not like any other ballpark. I’m sure when he was in Japan (he was) watching Godzilla take at-bats at Yankee Stadium, and he’s pitching in Yankee Stadium,” Roberts said in a reference to former New York Japanese star Hideki Matsui.

On a night plate umpire Todd Tichenor frustrated both teams with a tight strike zone, the game was scoreless into the 11th.

Shohei Ohtani, battling back and hamstring issues, went 0 for 5 and was repeatedly booed. He is hitting .195 with three homers and 10 RBIs since May 16, dropping his season average from .364 to .312.

New York’s Cody Poteet allowed two hits and three walks in 4 2/3 scoreless innings in his Yankee Stadium debut.

With Ohtani on second as the automatic runner in the 11th, Ian Hamilton (0-1) walked Freddie Freeman and retired Will Smith on a flyout before Hernández drove an 0-2 slider to the left-center gap. Hernández has 40 RBIs in 77 games against the Yankees. He also made leaping catch against the left-field wall on Anthony Volpe leading off first, and Judge followed with a one-out double.

“If that ball dropped,” Hernández said, “it would be 1-0.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (shoulder surgery last Nov. 3) pitched two innings in a simulated game on Friday at Rancho Cucamonga and touched 90 mph, Roberts said. The 36-year-old, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, will throw a three-inning simulated game in five or six days. ... RHP Bobby Miller (right shoulder inflammation) allowed two runs — one earned — and four hits for Triple-A Oklahoma City in his third minor league rehab start, throwing 50 of 85 pitches for strikes. He could return to the big league team next week. ... 3B Max Muncy (strained right oblique that has sidelined him since May 15) is taking swings without a ball. “It’s still a slow program,” Roberts said.

Yankees: RF Juan Soto, bothered by a sore left forearm, missed his first game of the season for the Yankees. A scan showed just inflammation, and he is day to day. ... RHP Gerrit Cole (right elbow nerve inflammation) is to make a second rehab start for Double-A Somerset on Sunday.

UP NEXT

LHP Nestor Cortes (3-4, 3.46 ERA) starts Saturday night for the Yankees and RHP Gavin Stone (6-2, 2.90) for the Dodgers. Cortes is 3-1 with a 1.12 ERA at home and 0-3 with a 6.17 ERA on the road.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Los Angeles Dodgers' Jason Heyward (23) celebrates as Shohei Ohtani, of Japan, runs to home plate to score on a two-run double by Teoscar Hernández as New York Yankees catcher Jose Trevino watches during the eleventh inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani heads home to score against the New York Yankees on a two-run double by Teoscar Hernández during the 11th inning of a baseball game, Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. The Dodgers won 2-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández runs to second on a two-run double against the New York Yankees during the 11th inning of a baseball game Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. The Dodgers won 2-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen, right, celebrates with catcher Will Smith after the team's 2-1 win in 11 innings in a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández (37) celebrates with teammates Jason Heyward (23) and Andy Pages (44) after a baseball gamea gainst the New York Yankees, Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. The Dodgers won 2-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches to New York Yankees' Aaron Judge during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Cody Poteet pitches to a Los Angeles Dodgers batter during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani passes New York Yankees' Anthony Rizzo (48) after flying out during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández (37) hits a two-run double during the eleventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández (37) celebrates with teammates after hitting a two-run double during the eleventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, June 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — President Donald Trump offered some encouraging words and advice for graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday in a speech interspersed with impressions of transgender weightlifters, accusations that judges were interfering with his agenda and attacks on his predecessor, Joe Biden.

The Republican’s jolting speech was standard fare for Trump and well received by the crowd in deep-red Alabama, which backed him in all three of his presidential runs.

“You’re the first graduating class of the golden age of America,” the president told the graduates.

But he quickly launched into a campaign-style diatribe, saying that the U.S. was being “ripped off” before he took office and that the last four years, when he was out of power, “were not good for our country.”

“But don’t let that scare you,” he said. “It was an aberration.”

The president of the University of Alabama, Stuart Bell, told graduates before Trump took the stage that Thursday night’s event was all about them.

“This special ceremony offers a meaningful opportunity for you, for I, to reflect on the important connection between academic inquiry, civic leadership, and public service,” Bell said.

Trump mostly went in a different direction.

He did a grunting impression of a female weightlifter as he criticized the participation of transgender women in sports. He bragged about how tech moguls have warmed up to him, saying, “They all hated me in my first term, and now they’re kissing my ass.”

And he falsely claimed that the 2020 election, which he lost, was “rigged.”

But after talking up his tariff plans, sharing his successes from his first 100 days in office and bashing the media, Trump turned back to the graduates, offering 10 pieces of advice drawn from his life and career, such as “Think of yourself as a winner,” “Be an original” and “Never, ever give up.”

He told them they were never too young to be successful and described how he worked on his first hotel development deal in his 20s.

“Now is the time to work harder than you’ve ever worked before,” he said. “Find your limits and then smash through everything.”

Although Trump described the speech as a commencement address, it is actually a special event that was created before graduation ceremonies that begin Friday. Graduating students had the option of attending the event.

Former Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban also spoke, regaling the audience with a story about visiting the Oval Office in 2018 during Trump's first term. Saban said Trump was a gracious host.

In his remarks Thursday, Trump noted that he was marking his 100th day in office and touted the plummeting levels of arrests at the southern U.S. border as evidence that his immigration policies were working. But he accused the courts of trying to stop him from fulfilling the promises he made on the campaign trail.

“Judges are interfering, supposedly based on due process,” he said. “But how can you give due process to people who came into our country illegally?”

Trump has a long history of injecting such rhetoric into his remarks at venues where traditional political talk was seen as unseemly.

On his first full day in office in 2017, he used a speech at a memorial for fallen CIA agents to complain about journalists and defend the size of his crowd at the inauguration. Later that year, he drew backlash for talking about politics at a Boy Scouts gathering. And earlier this year, he delivered a grievance-filled speech at the Justice Department where he threatened to “expose” his enemies.

Ahead of Trump's arrival, Emily Appel, a 22-year-old advertising major from Norcross, Georgia, called Trump's appearance at her school “a cherry on top” of her college years.

She said she hoped he had a message to share that was "positive about us being able to work in the real world and for our future.”

Sophie Best, who is graduating with a communications degree, said, “I don’t think that we could have had a greater person come to speak."

The 21-year-old from Cartersville, Georgia, said she attended Trump's first presidential inauguration in 2017 when she was a freshman in high school, along with her father, who she said loves Trump.

“I think that no matter what political party or whatever you believe in, I think that it’s super cool that we get to experience and make history and be a part of this,” she said.

At a park a mile away, hundreds of people gathered at a counter-rally hosted by College Democrats. One-time presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke of Texas and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, addressed the attendees at their event, called a “Tide Against Trump” — a play on the university’s nickname.

Aidan Meyers, a 21-year-old junior studying biology at the university, said he was upset by the decision to let Trump speak at a graduation-related event.

“I felt betrayed that the university was willing to put up with someone who has made it clear that they hate academia, essentially holding funding above universities' heads as a bargaining chip, unless they bow down to what he wants, which is kind of a hallmark sign with fascist regime,” Meyers said.

O'Rourke told the rally that Trump was trying to make the students’ graduation “all about him, true to form.” He urged students and others gathered to go out and use their voices to “win America back.”

“The power of people works in this country, even against Donald Trump,” O’Rourke said.

Jones told the crowd they were there “not just as a protest, but as a movement.”

“You are here today because you’re concerned, you’re afraid. You understand that this country’s great democracy is teetering right now with what we’re seeing going on,” the former senator said.

Trump’s presence also drew criticism from the Alabama NAACP, which said his policies are hurting universities and students, particularly students of color.

After his stop in Alabama, Trump is scheduled to travel to Florida for a long weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Later this month, he is scheduled to give the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

Former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke of Texas speaks next to former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama at a rally called "Tide Against Trump" in Tuscaloosa, Ala., held in opposition to President Donald Trump's appearance on campus on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kimberly Chandler)

Former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke of Texas speaks at a rally called "Tide Against Trump" in Tuscaloosa, Ala., held in opposition to President Donald Trump's appearance on campus on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kimberly Chandler)

Nick Saban speaks before President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

President Donald Trump gives a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Nick Saban speaks before President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump dances after giving a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

President Donald Trump gives a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

President Donald Trump yells after giving a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

President Donald Trump talks about transgender weightlifters as gives a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

President Donald Trump gestures after giving a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

University of Alabama president Stuart Bell speaks before President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump walks with Air Force Col. Angela Ochoa, Commander of the 89th Airlift Wing from Marine One to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., en route Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)