LOS ANGELES — After a completely predictable ending the audience saw coming and the final credits rolled out of the home clubhouse, the Los Angeles Dodgers successfully avoided what every big-budget summer blockbuster fears ahead of its domestic premiere.
No spoilers.
The Dodgers’ stars starred, their ace dealt and everything went as scripted while the Cardinals weren’t quite ready for a closeup in a 7-1 loss in their regular-season debut at Dodger Stadium. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman hit home runs in the same inning and sandwiched between them, the $700 million man Shohei Ohtani did not defer to the Cardinals by reaching base three times in the first five innings. By the time starter Miles Mikolas left the mound, that trio had scored five runs off him and the Cardinals were playing catchup against right-hander Tyler Glasnow’s overpowering stuff. Paul Goldschmidt mustered what he could with a home run and three hits, and those were the only hits the Cardinals had.
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For a team trying to put last year’s flop behind them, the way-too-early reviews of the Cardinals show signs of a sequel, not that fresh, hip reboot.
But they have three more games at Dodger Stadium to change that.
“(Expletive) or get off the pot: We’ve got to win some ballgames,†Mikolas said of the Cardinals’ opening road trip to Los Angeles and San Diego. “These are teams — if we want to be in the playoffs, they’re the teams we’re going to have to beat so we don’t get an early exit. And they’re teams you want to test your stuff against early. I didn’t do my job out there. I put us in a hole early and then we didn’t get the bats going because we’re trying to battle our way back.
“We’ve got three more games and 161 left, so I still like our chances.â€
During his warmups, Mikolas was jeered by sections of the 52,667-strong sellout crowd for his comments about the Dodgers’ “checkbook baseball.â€
And they are.
The Dodgers committed more than $1.4 billion to players this offseason, presented Ohtani the richest contract ever for a pro athlete in North America and show no signs of slowing in their pursuit of that — pause to check with accounting — second World Series championship since Gordon Gekko returned to the silver screen. Cardinals first baseman Goldschmidt suggested the Dodgers are “as good as any roster that has been put†on a major league field.
At least for the opener, they got what they paid for.
Los Angeles’ lineup is the first since “Back to the Future†debuted to feature three former Most Valuable Player winners batting first, second and third. Leadoff hitter Betts walked and scored in the first inning. He hit a home run to lead off the third inning on a pitch “you really can’t throw him,†Mikolas said. “Heater. Belt-high. Middle-in. Not a great spot.†Ohtani, at No. 2, had three looks at Mikolas and reached base three times. Hitting third, Freeman never got that third look because Mikolas left after 4⅓ innings, just before Freeman came up in the fifth. By the end of the third inning, that trio had reached base safely six times, hit two homers and opened up a 5-0 lead.
“It’s the big leagues,†said Zack Thompson, the Cardinals’ second-year lefty and Friday night starter. “Every team has nine good hitters out there. Anything can snowball on you. They’re definitely a good lineup, but the approach doesn’t change for me. Stick to my game plan and get after them. Put them on the defensive.â€
The Cardinals gave a glimpse of how they’ll contend with some of the NL’s giants — let alone the actual Giants — with hints of aggressive and opportunistic defense in the bottom of the first inning. After Betts started Mikolas’ season with the unusual for him — a walk — Ohtani hooked a double into the left-field corner. For a moment, Ohtani ran like an Angel, trying to force his way to third base to generate some offense. But now he’s a Dodger and Freeman was coming up with no outs, so Betts was standing at third — and Ohtani was out. Jordan Walker’s strong, assertive throw from right played into the moment by giving Betts pause.
With one out and speedy Betts at third, the Cardinals brought in the infield — in the first inning of the first game. Clearly playing the probabilities on what Freeman would do with a ball in play, the Cardinals weren’t going to give up the run on a hard grounder. But because infield was in, they ended up giving up two runs. Freeman threaded a hopper past a diving Nolan Gorman to score Betts. Instead of a routine grounder, Freeman had an RBI single and would be on base to score on a sacrifice fly.
“We always want to play mistake-free and good at-bats,†Goldschmidt said. “That’s why those guys are good. They have some tremendous talent, great players. They play the game the right way, too. They take the extra bases. They’ve got really good pitching. They can do it all. So tough challenge. You can’t try to do more. We’ll try to make all the plays on defense. They just played better than us.â€
On the field during batting practice, before the famously loud Dodger Stadium speakers got turned up to 11 and actor Bryan Cranston appeared as the surprise guest to read the Dodgers lineup, Cardinals executive John Mozeliak stood on the field.
This was his 17th opening day and yet his first coming off a losing season — and not just any losing season. The Cardinals finished in last place for the first time since 1990. The team that he first worked for in baseball, the Colorado Rockies, didn’t exist back then. He has called the season “humbling†and acknowledged the stress he and his staff felt with, even in spring, no outlet — no games to win, no standings to climb.
“Woke up this morning with butterfly feelings,†Mozeliak said. “We get to play the games and find out. A lot of excitement, and obviously I know there’s a lot of pressure on this season.â€
It wouldn’t ease after one game, but it will intensify with more games like it.
One of the prized pitchers available for trade this offseason, Glasnow buzzed through the Cardinals lineup for six innings and struck out five. The lone run he allowed came on Goldschmidt’s solo homer to lead off the fourth inning. Goldschmidt singled to lead off the ninth inning and finish 3 for 4 in the game. The next three Cardinals were retired in order, so the rest of the lineup finished 0 for 27. One of the two times the Cardinals got a runner into scoring position was when rookie Victor Scott II became the first Cardinal since at least 1900 to steal a base on his first try in his major league debut on opening day.
It took Mikolas 29 pitches to get through the first inning, and not one of them got a swing and miss. The Dodgers seized on his reputation for being in and around the zone, so he said he shifted to “playing the game of, ‘How far will you reach?’†He struck out five and found ways through everywhere but the top of the Dodgers’ lineup. With the tone of someone who has a season left to play, Mikolas said it wasn’t his worst opener.
True.
It wasn’t the Cardinals’ best.
And that may be what it takes.
“It’s early in the season, (and) this game is not going to define us as a team or me as an individual,†Mikolas said. “There is a lot of season left, that’s for sure.â€