China's red flag with its yellow stars blew in the breeze above left field alongside the Stars and Stripes. Except for this, the first Major League Baseball game in China mostly looked like any afternoon at the ballpark in the US.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres played to a 3-3 tie in a pre-season game yesterday in Beijing, with clear blue skies replacing the city's usual smog making it a glorious debut for baseball.
The second game was set for today. Both teams are using only a half dozen players who will be on their opening day 25-man rosters.
The game at the new Olympic venue drew an announced crowd of 12,224 -- a near sellout.
"In general overall the ballpark had a good feel," Padres manager Bud Black said. "The between innings entertainment was not unlike what we have in the States."
Commissioner Bud Selig was on hand with an entourage of MLB officials.
"The thought that we are standing here today watching the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres in Beijing, China, sort of takes my breath away," Selig said. "We certainly want to play more games here, there's no doubt about it."
Outfielder George Lombard hit a home run to right field in the third inning with one out to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
The Padres tied it in the fourth when Oscar Robles scored from third after Dodgers catcher Nick Hundley threw wildly back to the pitcher.
The Dodgers went ahead in the sixth 2-1 when Lucas May singled to drive in star recruit Andruw Jones. The Dodgers added another run in the eighth. Starter Park Chan-ho went five innings and allowed one hit.
Craig Stansberry drove in a run with a double in the eighth to cut the lead to 3-2, and Gonzalez followed with a run-scoring double to tie it for the Padres. After nine innings, the teams decided to call it quits rather then play extra innings as they would in a proper MLB game.
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