LOS ANGELES — With all the theatrics that one could expect from opening day at Dodger Stadium — from the long, lingering blue-carpet walk of every Dodger onto the field to “Breaking Bad†star Bryan Cranston introducing the starting lineup — there were literally fireworks at almost every turn of the pre-game ceremonies.
Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre delivered a blistering ceremonial first pitch. Tennis great Billy Jean King joined him to shout the signature phrase of every game here, “It’s time for Dodger baseball.â€
That’s when the real show began.
All the stars came out as Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and the Los Angeles Dodgers shined bright even in the afternoon on opening day against the Cardinals. By the end of the third inning, Betts had scored twice, Freeman had three RBIs and the Dodgers were on their way to a 7-1 rout Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
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The Dodgers arrived as advertised.
LA scored five runs against Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas, and all five came from the first three batters in the lineup — each of them a former Most Valuable Player. In his home debut after signing a $700 million contract with the Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani deferred nothing to the Cardinals and reached base all three times he faced Mikolas. Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow held the Cardinals to one run through his six innings.
The Cardinals had three hits in the game.
Fewest hits by Cardinals in a season opener
Rk | Date | Opp | Result | PA | AB | Hits | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T-1. | April 8, 1986 | vs. CHC | W, 2-1 | 32 | 27 | 2 | 0.074 | 0.219 | 0.074 | 0.293 |
T-1. | April 21, 1943 | at CIN | L, 1-0 (11) | 38 | 33 | 2 | 0.061 | 0.184 | 0.061 | 0.245 |
T-3. | March 28, 2024 | at LAD | L, 7-1 | 32 | 31 | 3 | 0.097 | 0.114 | 0.194 | 0.308 |
T-3. | April 10, 1980 | vs. PIT | W, 1-0 | 27 | 24 | 3 | 0.125 | 0.222 | 0.167 | 0.389 |
T-3. | April 6, 1971 | at CHC | L, 2-1 (10) | 32 | 32 | 3 | 0.094 | 0.094 | 0.188 | 0.281 |
T-3. | April 12, 1960 | at SFG | L, 3-1 | 31 | 30 | 3 | 0.1 | 0.129 | 0.2 | 0.329 |
T-3. | April 15, 1947 | at CIN | L, 3-1 | 34 | 28 | 3 | 0.107 | 0.265 | 0.107 | 0.372 |
T-3. | April 14, 1909 | at CHC | L, 3-1 | 30 | 28 | 3 | 0.107 | 0.167 | 0.107 | 0.274 |
Not coincidentally, Paul Goldschmidt had three hits in the game.
Following one of the most difficult springs of his career — an average around .100, 20 strikeouts — the Cardinals first baseman was their sole source of offense. He led off the fourth inning with a solo homer and the only run the Cardinals got off Glasnow (1-0). In the ninth inning, Goldschmidt hit a leadoff single. He did not advance past first base as the next three Cardinals all dutifully were retired by Ryan Yarbrough.
Goldschmidt finished the game 3 for 4.
His teammates went 0 for 27.
The hits are the fewest for the Cardinals on opening day since 1986.
Betts and Freeman hit home runs in the third inning against Mikolas to build on an early lead, and the Dodgers added a few runs late to widen the score. The Cardinals never threatened, taking only two of their 31 at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
There are 161 more games remaining.
The new MV3
It took two times through the order for the Dodgers to show what money can buy.
Toward the end of spring training, when he became the Cardinals’ opening day starter, Mikolas referred to LA’s style of accumulating high-priced stars as “checkbook baseball.†There’s truth in that. But it sure paid off. Facing three of the highest-paid players in the majors at the top of the Dodgers lineup, Mikolas did not retire any of them the first two times through the order.
As a trio, Betts, Ohtani and Freeman went 4 for 4 with two homers, five runs and two walks against Mikolas in the first three innings.
Betts opened the game with a walk, reached third on a double by Ohtani and then scored when Freeman threaded a ground ball to the outfield (more on that later). In the third inning, Betts led off with a home run. Ohtani followed with a walk. Freeman followed with a two-run homer — his first of the season. A dozen batters into the game, the Dodgers had a 5-0 lead, and that top three of their lineup had scored all five runs.
It took Mikolas 29 pitches to get through the first inning, and he did not have a swing and miss on any of them. Those came later as he found a more accommodating lower third of LA’s lineup. In the fifth inning, Mikolas retired Betts, allowed another single to Ohtani, then did not get to stick around and face Freeman for a third time. The Cardinals right-hander, in his third career opening day start for the club, allowed five runs on seven hits through 4⅓ innings.
Mikolas struck out five.
Scott nabs first MLB steal
Of course rookie Victor Scott II’s first time on base quickly became his first steal, too.
In the fifth inning, Scott slashed a grounder toward Betts at shortstop. The Gold Glove-winning right fielder, moonlighting this season as the Dodgers’ starting shortstop, had to rush his throw because of Scott’s speed. The ball skipped, and that was enough for Scott to beat it out. Betts was tagged with his first error of the season, keeping Scott from his first big league hit. But the first time on base would not be without its milestone.
Two pitches later, Scott took off for second.
Masyn Winn took a ball.
Scott took the bag — easy.
According to Cardinals research, Scott is the first Cardinal since at least 1900 to steal a base in his first attempt in his big league debut. He was stranded at second.
Infield in, and so is run
Only a base-running blunder by Ohtani gave the Cardinals the chance to slip free from more significant trouble in the first inning.
And then a ball slipped through the drawn-in infield.
The Dodgers began their home schedule the way they’ll begin so many games — with a trio of former MVPs to greet the opponent and begin the parade. For the first time since the 1980s, a club has back-to-back-to-back MVPs atop the lineup, and in their first look at the Cardinals, all three reached base safely. Two of them actually stayed there.
Betts worked a leadoff walk, and Ohtani followed with a double into the right-field corner. Ohtani dashed around second toward third as if ready to turn that double into a triple. There was one issue: Betts remained at third. When he leadoff hitter retreated to third base, the Cardinals had Ohtani trapped between bases for the freebie out. With one out and Betts at third, the Cardinals opted to bring in the infield with Freeman at the plate.
He skipped a grounder that got out.
Freeman’s RBI ground-ball single went past second baseman Nolan Gorman’s dive and gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. More runs followed. Freeman, who wouldn’t have been on base with a routine RBI ground out, scored on a sacrifice fly. And LA led 2-0.