For 7 innings, this looked like the October Dodgers. The Dodgers put a runner on base in every inning, but were 0-10 WRISP.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the third inning. With 2 outs, Shohei Ohtani gets his first knock as a Dodger, and then back to back walks loaded the bases for Max Muncy. Max singled in the 2nd with nobody on. However, this time, Max struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch, to leave the bases full. Ohtani’s first LAD hit comes off friend and fellow countryman, former Dodger, Yu Darvish. Ohtani then promptly steals 2nd on the first pitch to Freddie.
The Padres were the first to break through when Tyler Glasnow could not get Tyler Wade to chase, and walked him. He moved to 2nd on a WP and 3rd on a Jackson Merrill line drive out to Outman in CF. That was Merrill’s first MLB AB. Wade scored on Xander Bogaerts’ single, the first Padres hit.
The Dodgers got the run back in the 4th inning. Teoscar Hernandez reached 2B on a throwing error by 3B, Tyler Wade. He moved to 3rd on a hard ground ball to 1B, and scored the first Dodger runs on a sacrifice fly by Jason Heyward. After J-Hey, Yu Darvish’s night was over. LHRP, Tom Cosgrove relieved Darvish to face Gavin Lux, who hit into a 1-6-3 ground ball out.
Glasnow, who was struggling with his command all night, especially his unhittable curve, walked the first two batters in the 4th inning. Jurickson Profar singled to load the bases with nobody out. Luis Campusano hit into a 6-4-3 DP, with a run scored. Glasnow then got Wade to swing at strike 3 and get out of the inning.
The Dodgers threatened again in the 5th. Mookie singled and was forced out on a fielders choice by Ohtani. Freddie was HBP putting runners on 1st and 2nd. Will Smith reached on a fielders choice with Freddie out a 2B, but Ohtani moving to 3B. With runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs, Max struck out for the second time. Max left 5 runners on base in two innings.
Glasnow got through the 5th on 11 pitches and no baserunners. He was at 75 pitches and he was done for the night. It was a grind out game for Tyler. In his 5.0 IP, he allowed 2 runs (both earned), 2 hits, 4 walks, and 3 Ks.
At that point, Doc Roberts turned the game over to his bullpen. Ryan Brasier, Daniel Hudson, Joe Kelly, and Evan Phillips pitched 4.0 scoreless innings on 2 singles, 0 walks, and 3 Ks, on 50 efficient pitches.
In a game when it is sometimes better to be lucky than good, in the 8th the Dodgers struck for four runs. Max Muncy opened the 8th with a BB. Teoscar Hernández followed up with his first hit as a Dodger, a line single into CF. James Outman then drew walk to load the bases for Kiké Hernández. Kiké hit a sac fly to LF to plate Max and even the score at 2-2. With runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out, Gavin Lux hit a ground that went through 1B Jake Cronenworth’s glove for a run scoring error. Mookie and Shohei followed with run scoring singles to put the Dodgers comfortably up 5-2.
Joe Kelly and Evan Phillips finished off the Padres in the final two innings, and the Dodgers had their first 2024 victory.
- Glasnow was not dominant at all, but got the outs when he needed to, and limited the damage. He was squeezed on a few pitches, but that is going to happen, and is not an excuse. It was nice to see Will Smith talking it over with HP Umpire, Lance Barksdale, after the walk to Profar in the 2nd. Both Padres runs were due to walks, Tyler Wade and Manny Machado.
- The Dodgers used four relievers, while the Padres used seven. That should set up nicely for Game #2.
- The Dodgers had 7 singles and 9 walks, while the Padres had 4 singles and 4 walks.
- The Dodgers were 2-14 WRISP, while the Padres were 2-5.
- The Dodgers first three batters were 4-11, but reached base on 8 of their 15 PA. That is a nice .533 OBP. They had 2 RBI.
- The Padres first three batters were 2-12, with no walks, 0 runs, 1 RBI. Xander Bogaerts had both hits.
Game 2 will have Yoshinobu Yamamoto making his MLB debut for the Dodgers, and RHSP Joe Musgrove toeing the rubber for the Padres. Musgrove has 11 career starts against the Dodgers. He is 0-7 in 59.2 IP, 3.92 ERA, 1.341 WHIP, 60 K, 24 BB, 8 HR against LAD.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Dodgers are on their way to 162 wins. And it is always nice to beat San Diego.
Got up around 3:30. Missed the pre-game festivities as I did not think they were going to air them. Saw the replay of Park’s first pitch. I really dislike those split city jersey’s and for the life of me, I do not remember ever seeing Park pitch as a Padre. I only remember him as a Dodger and a Ranger. But I do remember him giving up two grand slam homers to Tatis’s dad in the same inning and him attempting to karate kick someone at first. Nice to see Ryu. Jerry Hairston is still unwatchable.
Park works for the Padres as an adviser/
Yes, I saw that and he pitched for them for two seasons towards the end of his career. I just don’t remember seeing him pitch for them.
Belcher?
Great starting time for me, 5pm. Got to watch the whole game. Surprised to see Glasnow struggle with his control. He’s a monster on that mound but I really wonder if he can finish his starts. Muncy choked twice w/risp. Mookie and Ohtani should have great years. T. Hernandez will help us a lot, I believe. Bullpen did their job. I’m looking forward to seeing Yamamoto pitch.
Did you all hear about the bomb threat pregame against Ohtani?
Fortunate (or unfortunate) Cronenworth web breaking. If not for that this game would have gone into extra innings. Can’t assume the double play, but that would have been an easy one.
Who looked good on Opening Day? Betts and Ohtani offensively. Nobody else. Pitching was solid but for 4 walks by Glasnow. Breaks went the Dodgers way in this one.
Betts and Lux seemed fine on defense. That’s a storyline we’ll be following in every game .
The biggest break, by far, was in Cronenworth’s webbing. Kind of embarrassing for the MLB to have a glove break like that during the season opener in Seoul. I trust that every player will be checking the condition of their gloves.
Lux will never get back to short throwing like that and maybe that’s ok with him. I don’t know what that means for Mookie.
No need to create a problem out of this. Lux should be fine at 2B. Mookie will be fine anywhere.
Do they have an equipment manager?
For those that did not see the play, here is the Jake Cronenworth broken glove play.
For those who did not get a chance to read it, here is an article as to how the Dodgers stole River Ryan from San Diego.
Great recap Jeff!
I prefer to sleep in and watch the highlights.
Not sure Cronenworth deserves an error for that play. And I think Lux would have beaten the pitcher to first base as well. Good to see Dodgers find a way to win, and sounds like Betts and Lux made the plays on defense. Great team win to start the season!
Should be a hit
Both Mookie and Gavin played well defensively. Nothing overly difficult. Here are Lux’s plays. His last play ended the game. Might have been his best throw of the year.
I thought Yu looked good.
He was not sharp but made the pitches when he needed to. 72 pitches in 3.2 innings is not good. He walked 3 and gave up 2 hits.
Thanks
Not that good.
All’s well that ends well. Got very lucky with the glove mishap. Bullpen was nails. Gotta get better hitting with RISP. 2 for 14 RISP, 13 LOB.
I would not expect to see Miguel Rojas and Jazz Chisholm and that same dinner party any time soon.
The 26-year-old didn’t specifically name Rojas (now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers) but alluded to him in his comments.
He should have just kept his mouth shut. By all accounts, Miggy is a great clubhouse guy, and he doesn’t suck. He just is not the same kind of hitter Chisholm is.
Looks like Tim’s already given C jr. some pointers.
Now C jr. and Tim Anderson can re-enforce their views onto the team and really bring that franchise together. 😉
My wife doesn’t like Rojas as he appears to constantly kibitz other players.
Huge story developing:
Representatives of Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday accused his interpreter of engaging in a “massive theft” of the ballplayer’s funds to place bets with an allegedly illegal bookmaker who is the target of a federal investigation.
Lawyers for Ohtani made that claim after The Times learned that Ohtani’s name had surfaced in the investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an Orange County resident. Ohtani’s representatives looked into the actions of the interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, in response to The Times’ queries, a source close to the matter said. Two sources told the newspaper that the money involved was in the millions of dollars.
In a statement, the West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler, said, “In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.”
Love this:
How he came to lose his job started with reporters asking questions about the wire transfers.
Seppuku is what is appropriate.
MLBTR reports that he has been fired by the Dodgers. He also said Ohtani had nothing to do with betting. He did it all by himself. But MLB will undoubtedly launch one of their famous investigations.
I like your comparison to October Dodgers because that’s exactly what I was thinking as I was watching it live.
An observation after one game. We are going to see the running game much more this season from the boys in blue.
if Lux can get on board from the 9 spot, then both Mookie and Shoehei can get on board we will score a lot of runs. You could sense the change to a far more aggressive style already.
i just hope that Mookie (and his hip) can keep up.
This is going to be a very hard lineup to pitch though. Every hitter worked the count.
Im not sure we’re gonna see a HR tomorrow either. This stadium is cavernous.
… and loud as hell !! Then you got those KPop Cheerleaders in a nonstop dancing. Well, a win is a win and nobody got hurt. Those synthetic turf in a stadium you really don’t know; can be treacherous.
Orange county stink is hard to wash off
What is stinkier to you? The Valley or Orange County?
The guy is Japanese, has nothing to do with Orange county. But the idea the moron thought it was legal in California to bet on sports is even worse. Amount stolen according to MLBTR was 4.5 million
I must correct myself, Mizuhara was born in Japan but raised in Orange county. My bad, i’ll shut up now.
Ranger’s sign Lorenzen. Yankees have re-engaged in talks with Montgomery. Roberts refuses to answer questions concerning Mizuhara.