Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US.
The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez.
Photo: AP
“There’s a Teoscar tax to get through Freddie the third time,” Roberts said and Hernandez made the Tigers pay in the fifth inning with a three-run homer.
Edman blasted his solo homer in the second inning, while Ohtani smacked his in the seventh for what proved to be the deciding run.
The New York Yankees, who lost to the Dodgers in the World Series, began the American League campaign with a 4-2 home triumph over Milwaukee with solo homers for Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe and a run-scoring double by Aaron Judge in the first game on US soil.
Wells became the first catcher in MLB history to smash a leadoff homer on opening day.
“To go out there and give us an early lead with that swing, we’ve seen it all spring,” Judge said of Wells. “The guy came into camp ready to go in spring training and carried into today on both sides of the ball. He set the tone for the whole day for us.”
In Toronto, Baltimore’s Tyler O’Neill stretched his MLB record with a homer for a sixth consecutive opening day, the Canadian’s three-run blast in the third inning helping the Orioles defeat the Blue Jays 12-2.
The Orioles hit a club opening-day record six homers in the rout.
O’Neill’s streak started in 2020 while he was with St Louis and went for four campaigns, matching the MLB mark shared by Yogi Berra, Gary Carter and Todd Hundley.
He took the mark alone last year with a homer while with Boston.
“It’s there, for sure,” O’Neill said of homer thoughts for the opener. “Just not trying to make too much of it. Just try to go out, have a good first at-bat, see what the game gives me from there. Obviously, I understand what’s going on, but not like I’m trying to go up there and do anything crazy.”
Elsewhere, the Astros mastered the Mets 3-1, the Padres beat the Braves 7-4, the White Sox walloped the Angels 8-1, the Giants downed the Reds 6-4, the Red Sox routed the Rangers 5-2 and the Marlins pipped the Pirates 5-4.
The Cardinals tamed the Twins 5-3, the Cubs crushed the Diamondbacks 10-6, the Mariners sank the Athletics 4-2, the Phillies defeated the Nationals 7-3 in 10 innings and the Guardians dethroned the Royals 7-4 in 10 innings.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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