Held to one hit through the first four innings, the Dodgers score four times in two separate innings to break away for an 8-2 win. Andy Pages and Will Smith hit home runs.
The Dodgers’ Andy Pages, center, celebrates with teammates Teoscar Hernández, right, and Max Muncy, left, after hitting a go-ahead three-run home run during the fifth inning of the season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers hit the Arizona Diamondbacks with a two-by-four on Opening Day, using a pair of four-run innings highlighted by home runs from Andy Pages and Will Smith to beat the Diamondbacks, 8-2, on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium. As part of the orchestrated pregame pomp and pageantry on Opening Day, Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas were “late” to the introductions, eventually arriving in a Cadillac driven by actor Will Ferrell with the 2024 and 2025 World Series trophies in hand.A sellout crowd of 53,712 turned out to watch World Series hero after World Series hero introduced – relief pitcher Will Klein got one of the loudest ovations for his Game 3 heroics – and the latest championship banner raised. They had time to catch their breath after that. Shohei Ohtani led off the first inning with a single. But Zac Gallen retired 12 of the next 13 Dodgers, a walk to Max Muncy in the second providing the two-time defending champions’ only other baserunner through the first four innings. World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto became the fifth pitcher in the divisional era and the first since Madison Bumgarner in 2014 to close out a World Series and start the following Opening Day for the same team. He wasn’t as effective as Gallen early. The Diamondbacks put runners on in two of the first three innings. A pickoff and a line drive double play helped Yamamoto escape. But in the fourth inning after a leadoff single by Corbin Carroll, Yamamoto let an 0-and-2 fastball to Geraldo Perdomo get entirely too much of the plate. Perdomo sent it into the seats down the right-field line for a 2-0 Diamondbacks lead.The center fielder was 4 for 50 in the postseason, prompting Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to bench him for Games 5, 6 and 7 of the World Series – setting up his Series-saving catch as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning of Game 7. After cruising through four innings on 51 pitches, Gallen looked vulnerable in the fifth, giving up back-to-back singles to Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez to start the inning. That brought up Pages, who fell behind 1-and-2 but golfed a curveball at the knees into the left field pavilion for his three-run home run. Another single by Miguel Rojas and two walks loaded the bases with two outs for Smith against Diamondbacks reliever Juan Morillo. Smith squibbed a soft ground ball up the first-base line that Carlos Santana smothered beyond the bag. His flip to Morillo covering was too late and a run scored for the Dodgers. Yamamoto re-engaged beast mode after the Perdomo home run, retiring the next nine Diamondbacks in order before handing the lead over to the Dodgers’ bullpen. The Dodgers broke it open with another four-run inning in the seventh featuring Kyle Tucker’s first hit as a Dodger , an RBI single from Mookie Betts and a two-run home run by Will Smith.Five things to watch for as baseball’s opening day arrives for the Dodgers, AngelsPhilippe the Original ends a tradition while another century-old restaurant closesIn the California governor’s race, two Republicans land at top of the state Democratic Party’s pollLA woman gets nearly 3 years for role in $14 million Medicare schemeLos Angeles City Council prepares to install speed cameras as part of state safety pilotShohei Ohtani placed on IL, will miss remainder of Angels’ season
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