Dodgers rally late, win season opener against Padres in South Korea
The Los Angeles Dodgers scored four runs in the eighth inning to take the lead in the season opener against the San Diego Padres Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea, and win the game 5-2 at Gocheok Sky Dome.
Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts had RBI singles in the eighth inning, but it was a bizarre play at first base that led to the tie-breaking run.
With the score tied 2-2, Gavin Lux hit a ground ball to first baseman Jake Cronenworth that went through the webbing of his glove into right field. Teoscar Hernandez scored on the play, giving the Dodgers a 3-2 lead and kept the inning alive.
The Padres pitchers gave the Dodgers plenty of chances in the game. They walked nine batters, but it wasn't until the eighth inning when the Dodgers took advantage.
Max Muncy walked to lead off the eighth inning. Teoscar Hernandez followed with a single and James Outman walked to load the bases.
Kike Hernandez started the rally with a sacrifice fly that scored Muncy to tie the score 2-2.
Ohtani was 2-for-5 with an RBI, a run-scoring single in the eighth inning, and a stolen base in his debut for the Dodgers.
The Padres took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on an RBI single by Xander Bogaerts. The Dodgers tied the score in the top of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from Jason Heyward that scored Teoscar Hernandez.
"We all know what we can do on the baseball field," Teoscar Hernandez told SportsNet LA after the game.
The Padres took a 2-1 lead when Manny Machado scored on a bases-loaded double play in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Tyler Glasnow started for the Dodgers and pitched five innings. He gave up two runs on two hits, struck out three and walked four.
Yu Darvish started for the Padres. He was pulled in the fourth inning after giving up an unearned run on two hits, striking out three and walking three.
Daniel Hudson (1-0) earned the win, pitching a scoreless seventh inning. He gave up a hit and struck out one. Evan Phillips earned his first save of the season
Jhony Brito (0-1) took the loss, giving up a run and a hit in a third of a inning in relief.
The signing of Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract gives the Dodgers three Most Valuable Players at the top of their lineup.
Betts was the 2018 American League MVP when he played for the Boston Red Sox. Ohtani, the unanimous selection as AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 when he played for the Los Angeles Angels, will bat second, followed by Freddie Freeman, the 2020 National League MVP when he played for the Atlanta Braves.
Glasnow, a right-hander, made his Dodger debut Wednesday. The team acquired the 2011 graduate of William S. Hart High School in Santa Clarita from the Tampa Bay Rays in a four-player trade Dec. 16 and signed him to a five-year contract extension for $136.5 million.
Glasnow was 10-7 in 2023 with 162 strikeouts in 120 innings in 21 starts, setting career highs for victories, strikeouts, starts and innings pitched.
He made his second career opening day start in a major-league career that began in 2016 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also started the 2021 opener for the Rays.
Darvish made his third opening day start for the Padres and fourth of his major-league career, which began in 2012 with the Texas Rangers. The 37- year-old right-hander was 8-10 with a 4.56 ERA in 24 starts in 2023.
The Dodgers were 100-62 in 2023 and won the NL West for the 10th time in 11 seasons. But they lost their first postseason series for a second consecutive season -- getting swept in three games by the Arizona Diamondbacks in an NL Division Series.
San Diego was 82-80, finishing third in the five-team NL West, 18 games behind the Dodgers and two games behind the Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins in the race for the final two NL wild-card berths.
Mike Shildt made his debut as the Padres' manager, succeeding Bob Melvin, who left the team to become the San Francisco Giants' manager.
Shildt worked for the Padres for the past two seasons in a consultant role after managing the St. Louis Cardinals to a 252-199 record from midway through the 2018 season through 2021 and postseason berths in each of his three full seasons.
South Korea is the fourth foreign country in which the Dodgers have played a regular-season game. They played their first regular-season game outside the United States on May 27, 1969, defeating the Montreal Expos, 5-3. They have also played in Mexico and Australia.
"It's been incredible," Teoscar Hernandez told SportsNet LA. "`I really excited to be here and part of this."
Since moving to Los Angeles following the 1957 season, the Dodgers have played exhibition games in Japan, China and Taiwan. When they were based in Brooklyn, the Dodgers played spring training games in the Dominican Republic and Cuba and made a postseason tour of Japan in 1956.
The Dodgers will play in Southern California for the first time in 2024 on Sunday at Dodger Stadium to begin the three-game exhibition Freeway Series against the Angels. They will play their regular-season home opener March 28 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
